What Happens When You Don't Plan Before Painting
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ต.ค. 2021
- Most weeks I emphasize the need for planning a composition before you begin to paint. But this week I just head in without any planning to see what happens. And I do run into problems that could have solved if I had given more thought to the composition. It was a good experiment.
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Your book 'Creative Authenticity -16 Principles to Clarify and Deepen Your Artistic Vision' is absolutely awesome. Thanks for all your teachings. The best.
Someday my CV will include “studied composition with Ian Roberts”. I am so lucky.
"...structural issues need to be addressed or could be addressed in advance of painting."
Excellent insight to and demonstration of painting without a plan and cropping, too much.
Hey Buddy- I got your book on composition. I’m reading it and started doing daily compositions in pencil this morning. Went to the park and for the first time was taking photos not of objects or subjects but of structures of lights, greys and darks. Got back and couldn’t believe it- the best reference photos I’ve ever taken! Thanks man! 😁
Hey, fantastic. It works!
I am always impressed with the way you come up with a subject to paint that i would never imagine doing.
It seems to be a common comment. That the photo doesn't look like much and who would paint it and the paintings somehow looks good. I think it has to be I am not thinking subject, more design and as the design takes form the painting starts to make sense. I think.
It is a joy to see an everyday cluttered scene become something simple and lovely. I seems to me that you select which shapes to include and emphasise as much subconsciously as consciously.
HI Priscilla, it probably is pretty subconscious. How much to describe, how much to imply.
This proves that you are a great painter. It reminds me of Edward Hopper's morning sun painting.
I love the secret "of having plenty of paint on your brush" it helps prevent muddy paint. It makes the painting pop.
Great. Glad I could help!
YeS!!!! Seems counterintuitive but planning makes it soo much easier to be loose with painting. That's why I always do thumbnails and even gridding if it's a complicated subject!
Thanks again for another excellent tutorial on planning.!
So true. Delighted you enjoyed it!
Coincidence but nobody has ever said - have the frame first! And this is just where I have reached in my journey. Whyever not? This seems so sensible it shouldn't need to be said, but it does. Thank you.
Hi Annie, it just saves having a room full of odd shaped frames that you never have another painting for.
@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition No - I never had the frames in the first place! I have been collecting canvasses etc and painting them without any idea of how to frame them. But this way will be much better. They look so much more complete once framed!
I watch your videos and how you simplify everything. It is so hard to learn new tricks. The ability to look at a subject and look passed all the detail... that is my struggle... thanks for your help.
It's kind of like the keys to the kingdom when you start to see more in shapes and design and less in subject and details. Glad you find the videos helpful.
I am a watercolorist. I use the no thought method to do small warmup exercises to chose colors and test how they work together or to practice a technique I want to use in my painting. I then plan my painting composition and include any of the successful experiments. Love your video and thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us.
Most welcome. Glad you enjoyed it.
I often don’t plan in my paintings ,not because I think there is a ton of value in it but probably because
Have a lot of imagination in my elements some of which I don’t use reference photos for .
This has made me take pause now on this series of paintings I’ve been working on.
Thanks so much Ian for your sharing your knowledge and expertise.
Dave Anderson .happy,Valley Or
HI Dave, it is harder to plan if ideas come to you spontaneously during the painting process and you start adding and subtracting things based on the moment. I'd find it hard to plan around that. But I don't do that very often.
Such a good video that came at the right time. As a very beginner artist I literally just finished a session attempting to paint without any sort of planning - I'll get into the flow as I progress I thought - and ended up frustrated and abandoning the piece after about an hour because it was like going down dead end after dead end.
That is a prefect description of the process. Sad but true. Good luck with the next one. With some planning.
I had the same exact problem with. Had to cut down to a 18 x 14. Composition is the most important thing in my book now. The use of grids , proportional dividers , I use it all !!
Thanks for sharing that Allen. I find the same thing.
This is such important info! Having a plan is always best! As a Watercolor artist, I need to have my ‘road map’ for a painting first, if I don’t want to end up starting over several times! I have had very few successes with a painting that I didn’t do at lease one thumb nail sketch! ((Even my Abstracts) Also it’s best to work out all those design issues on my cheaper sketch paper and not on my expensive watercolor paper! Thanks again Ian, for another fantastic video!
Love you videos, I don't know if you have . But a video that just explains shadows, how you pick the colors,why you pick those shades. I love the way you explain things , thank you for these videos .
I just finished a lovely landscape with beautiful clouds reflected in a low tide marsh. Unfortunately, I did exactly what you advise against and had the same problem. I got to a lovely landscape by almost completely cropping off the beautiful sky. Now I have a very difficult to frame 52cm x 30cm pic. I have yet to learn the patience to make a proper sketch beforehand as you advise, but I do look forward to videos each week. Sooner or later it will sink into my practice. Thanks again for your very thought provoking videos.
You are most welcome Laurie. Glad you are enjoying them and sorry to hear about your painting. It happens to us all.
I love this! So amazing!!!Love the light and the shadows!
I find the painting is evocative of a soft warm morning while the photo is just a picture. This example shows the art in art and also that you were making decisions as you painted. But it really is important to plan, especially for those of us who normally don't think about the hierarchy of shapes and the mood we want to convey. This speaks to knowing what you want to say with the painting (IMHO).
HI Linda, to your point , there are those that say that the planning takes all the discovery out of the painting process, but I find the planning is so basic that there are surprises and accidents happening all the time. The original plan just makes sure I don't completely end up in the weeds.
Hello Ian, I love watching people paint. It is so helpful to see the paint go on the canvas and your narrative as you go. I am particularly interested in the toned grounds you use this time. I am going to explore that more. I also had wondered about your canvas sizes and if you planned for a "standard" size frame since often you have a canvas tacked to a board to paint on. This video answered that question. I am working my way through your book Creative Authenticity. It is very helpful and puts into words many of my thoughts on painting. Thank you!
HI Andrea, thanks for letting me know you are enjoying the videos and CA. Try a toned ground. I'd recommend a neutral color.
That’s fantastic I love it
That was masterful.
Thank you for sharing your valuable knowledge.
I love it. It says so much about the day.
I totally agree about the importance of planning. I really appreciate your videos. Very informative and practical, delivered in a logical manner.
Thank you, I'm glad I found you, you are so nice to listen to
Your videos are so helpful and have helped me learn to simplify the painting of a landscape. Thank you!
I love your style, thank you so much for this advice.
W🤩W! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and skill. Beautiful.
Great example, a really good video to learn from. Thank you, Ian. I have already ordered the two books of yours, looking forward to future videos.❤
Hello Ian I just wanna thank you for all the videos you made, they teach me a lot and i am looking forward for more videos🤍
I enjoyed watching you paint your wife at the window and how you worked the light against the dark. It reminded me of the importance of value. Thank you for another great video.
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks so much Deborah
LOVE your work and teaching Ian!!
Glad to hear it Karen.
Thank you . Every week I look forward to your sessions and always learn something new.
Wonderful! Thanks so much Jan
Thank you so much! Your lessons are always very interesting and useful
Thank you very much for your wonderful video classes. Each one gives me new things to think about & helps me cut down on the "mistakes" I need to make on my own. You rock.
Thanks so much. This makes me so happy to hear
You painted your wife in the kitchen beautifully regardless of not sketching it before. Anyway you are a professional. If would be even harder for me if I tried that.
Thanks so much Colette. Glad you liked it
Thank you Ian - I always get so much inspiration and knowledge from your videos
Glad to hear it. Thanks so much Nicky
I quite like the painting in the end. I'll keep the lesson of planning in mind, thanks!
Thanks so much
I find there is always plenty of unplanned discovery with every painting no matter how much I plan. My experience is you just need a map before setting out. Otherwise you can get lost in the weeds and that can be unplanned discovery too.
Thank you once again for a great lesson. It’s always good to see the problems one might run into and how they could have perhaps been resolved thru planning.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching
I find these videos you produce to be some of the most helpful tips of any I’ve watched. Thank you for doing these!
I'm so glad! Thanks Monica. All the best
Thank you for sharing your lessons. You're a really good teacher.
You're very welcome!
Thank for a well thought out discussion on planning
You are very welcome Joseph
Love the DVD in Mastering Composition as well as the book. Emphasizing the composition first is extremely helpful to me. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience with us.
You are so welcome. Glad you liked the book and DVD too! Happy to hear it
Wonderful, I enjoy and learn sooo much of your explanations, thank you very much Ian!!
Happy to hear that! Thanks Ana
Thank you. Have a good week. :)
Thanks. You too Sarah!
I never plan my paintings and always run into these issues, thank you for your video it helps a lot!
It is common for everyone! Thanks for watching
You are a great artist and teacher. A national treasure! Grateful.
Thanks so much Marti!
Another great video. I love that you show struggles and the lessons learned,(which apply to all of us.)
It is a part of the painting process! Glad I could help Timothy
another great video, thanks Ian.
Glad you enjoyed it Maureen.
Grazie Ian! I tuoi video sono veramente istruttivi!
Love this!
Thanks Bonnie. All the best.
Ah! My favourite days ofA the week. My weekly visit with Ian Roberts . Another worthwhile video, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for following along and watching week to week Stephen
This is great! Makes me want to start a new project
Gorgeous!!!
Thank you Herman!
Thank you ❤
Thank you very much for reinforcing that there is a definite structure to the preparation and process of our art work. This is such a good reminder, though we are anxious to get started, planning is key to the process. Excellent, thank you.
Well said! Thanks so much
Ian, thanks so much for the video, demo and explanation of the importance of planning ahead. This is a great eye opening and so important. Blessings and take care.
Glad you enjoyed it Crisalida.
Great tips thank you for sharing your talents.
You are so welcome!
I truly wish I had found you when I first started my adventure with painting. You are a blessing!
You are very kind. Thanks so much Linda
A lovely painting.
Thanks so much Marie
What a pleasure to see the picture develop. Very informative and inspiring. Thank you 😊
You are so welcome!
finally a beautiful painting came out :)
I like the way you interpret what you see. Thanks for these videos
You are so welcome! Thanks Jesus
Ian, you're so right; I am guilty of doing that sever times. Discovered that planning ahead makes for better results. Great video.
Excellent. Glad I could help Joseph
Hi Ian, really enjoyed watching this video and listening to your explanations and your thought process as you paint, I learn so much from watching artists, really appreciate you sharing videos like this, thank you
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks so much Gayanthi
Maravilloso como captas la luz..!!!
Thanks so much Carmen!
Such a beautiful painting process and right discussion of issues faced.. gifted..💕💕
Many thanks Mohan
For an unplanned painting, this is very nice. Thanks again.
Glad you like it! Thanks Silver
I always lov the vids Ian. And what is always so important, which you make look so simple, is getting the correct temperature and value, which makes everything work. You are a Master my friend :)
Glad I can help. Thanks for supporting me and watching along Greg. All the best
I find the first stage of planning is just to look - really objectively at the subject and then start to plan. Thank you once again for your excellent videos. No gimmicks, just sound teaching.
Glad it was helpful. Thanks Norman.
This really helped me! Thanks again, great teacher
You are so welcome Kimberly!
Excellent!
Many thanks!
Fascinating to watch, you have a very good eye.
Thank you kindly
Hi Ian, This was a really good demo - I love the way you simplify all the elements down to the essential. I would be at a loss without a basic drawing and especially without a value sketch. Thank you!
You are so welcome Barbara. Glad you enjoyed the process
Yes, trying to figure out what to do with the finished pieces that I hadn't 'planned' when they turned out well quickly taught me to plan - minimum of a simple sketch.
Another excellent demo, thank you.
That is wonderful. You are very welcome. I am happy to help
Thanks Ian - I learn something new from you each session. Today you made me consider what size canvas to use so that they fit standard frames. Having never taken this into consideration, I realise that it could be much more economical than using bespoke. Great tip!
Hi Claire, glad you found it helpful. I spent a fortune on frames I could never use again because they were such odd sizes. Learnt the hard way.
I am a relative newby to the painting world and I am loving your videos. I've managed to source both of your books (took a while being in Australia). Thank you for giving us your time and expertise!
Glad you like them Eva. Thank you.
This was so helpful. I am always amazed how you block in the objects using values and the painting is almost finished.
Glad you enjoyed it Christine. Definitely check out some of my other videos that discuss the pre-painting process
I'm truly inspired!! I'm off to the next project, thanks for your information. I will certainly use it!!
Wonderful! Delighted you enjoyed it Cedric
@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition I'll definitely tune into your channel!! I'm open to collaborate, if it's something you'd find fun to do.
Just finished a painting with no planning. I spent hours trying to fix the body proportion of a Ceranotaursus for my grandson lol. I need to print in bold letters for my studio: thumbnail, value structure, grid then paint. Love your book Creative Authenticity. So much thoughtful content to digest. Will be re-reading many times.
HI Candice, yes that is a good checklist. And delighted you enjoyed CA.
Yes, I had the most problems when my sketch wasn't right and then got a strange frame proportion and many things in the picture had to be changed or didn't have the proper space or position.
I always look forward to your Tuesday videos. I paint with watercolor, but so many of your tips and techniques transfer quite well. I used to avoid doing a preliminary sketch, but I’ve finally seen the light. In fact, my preliminary sketches have become quite elaborate and almost look better than the finished work! I’ve been doing them in water soluble graphite with a watercolor brush. I’m able to work out problems before committing myself to the “real” thing. Thanks again for taking time to share with all of us “wannabes”🤗
so delighted to hear it Leila. I like those water soluble pencils too.
KOLN CONCERT! It's the best. Thank you for these videos.
Delighted you liked the video Brian. And that brief bit of the concert.
Thank you; yes planning is important when I work on a representational subject, but when I embark on an abstract work, I leave it to my impulses, my mood and it takes me sometimes weeks to go back to it and modify some aspects of the design until I get to the final stage of completion.
HI Walter, I think that is the secret to doing the abstract work. Being able to be with it when it clearly is not working and coming back and resolving things over time. It isn't actually a process that appeals to me that much personally. But I also don't really have any ideas of what I want to explore either that would pull me to it. If I did I would I think.
I am a relatively new subscriber to your site. I have been painting for several years, and your approach to simplifying the compositional process has been most helpful. It has made organizing the painting easier and the whole process faster. The most difficult part of the task is finding the picture or plein air setting that has the right compositional ingredients.
HI Charles, I'm glad you are enjoying the videos and finding them helpful. I will say you put your finger on the problem for me too. I takes me time to find what I want to paint. I have not found a way to get around that. It's just part of the process.
Loved the painting, colours and contrast are fab. I’m trying abstract and will try and plan my palette and see if that helps 💕 Oooo just seen your palette list for this painting what a bonus!!
Thanks Margaret, glad you liked it and good luck with the abstracts.
A fascinating demonstration which reveals the many problems that one might discover in the composition and execution of a painting. I found it particularly relevant having attended a three day en plenum air painting course which confronted all of us with problems which do not usually in a studio painting created over several sessions. The wisdom of your pencil sketches used to work out the problems is clearly demonstrated - how to simplify and what to leave out. I have discovered that all prima and en plain air painting demands very different skills - a sort of multi-tasking where you face making many decision either simultaneously or in quick succession. It reminds me of a comment by one of the engineers building the tunnel under the English Channel. the French engineers were good an pre-thinking and avoiding trouble and the British were less good at this but were able to improvise and get out of trouble once it had occurred!
Hi Ian, painting, both alla prima in the studio and plein air, is like juggling. You have to keep all the balls in the air at the same time. Lot's to think about and like the British lots of things to solve on the fly. I suppose it'd be good to use both skills. French and British.
Beautiful painting as always Ian, the reason I continue to follow you is that you connect with your viewers. You give good advice and let people know that at times you run into problems too and show how you solve them. You answer people by email and TH-cam the best you can. As viewers I think we tend to forget how busy you can get answering viewers. How much time do you have to paint a week? As always, thank you for good common sense advice.
Hi Brian, I'm delighted you are enjoying the videos. And thank you for your comments about connecting to viewers. It's all taking up a lot of time right now. But so far so good.
Thank you, Ian, for demonstrating the value of some preliminary planning which helps one avoid a lot of fixing later. As for canvas size, I try to use standard sizes having learned the hard way about non-standard sized paintings. Years ago I bought several unstretched paintings from an artist who was just starting out. I still love the paintings but most of them are in a flat file because each one requires expensive custom framing.
Hi Barbara, it like giving a painting to a friend unframed. Well it isn't such a friendly thing to do really because as you say, that painting will probably be safely stored away somewhere forever.
Makes a world of sense to have your plan in place ahead of painting. Having to correct major problems while you are painting really would be distracting and could lead to not doing your best representation of the subject matter. This was an excellent lesson in why we should consider the composition first and draw things out before we begin. In this case I think the painting is wonderful even if it ended up being an odd size. I also loved the other painting you did of your wife recently walking outside.
thanks so much Lyn. Glad you enjoyed the video. And the paintings.
One has to take great care when painting ones wife not to be unflattering or you’ll get it! I’ve had my wife rip up a painting.
She wasn't upset with this one although in one of the comments above they said I'd added 15 pounds. But Anne was fine with it. Thank goodness.
Great work sir
Thanks Jaspro
another great Demo! I just ordered your book Creative Authenticity, looking forward to reading it !
Hi, delighted you are enjoying the videos and I know you'll find the books helpful. All the best.
Love your advice
Tfs
Glad I could help!
Hi Ian, wonderful video, wonderful plane and basic explanation. Helps personally that painting is drawing with a brush, helps my fear of painting on canvas, of been self aware of making a painting. I come from the drawing side of things, color is not a problem, but canvas is. I had to turn into brown paper painting to be able to evolve. Mind always playing games. Thanks so much!
HI Javier delighted you found the video helpful. And you just gotta do what you gotta do to overcome the mental boundaries we place on ourselves. I know them well.
2 mins into the video… so excited to see how this unfolds.
I hope you enjoyed the outcome!
Thanks for this, Ian. I get a lot of push-back from students and even some colleagues when I treat planning a painting as an essential part of the process. My non-artist (read "philistine";0D) husband watched this one with me and said, "He was planning when he took the photograph." I thought that was very insightful. Because of your experience, you ran in to far fewer problems with the no-plan approach than a learning painter would, as you couldn't help but solve problems that you are familiar with and know are well worth avoiding. Even with that, you ran into a significant compositional difficulty that required sacrificing a part of the painting. Far from inhibiting creativity, planning gives a glorious freedom to just PAINT, knowing that your framework will indeed WORK, no later bandaids required. Thanks again.
HI Katherine, your last sentence there (not the "thanks again") is pretty much the summation of my teaching, It does not diminish our enjoyment and discovery of a journey to have drawn a map of the route before leaving. And that is a good observation of your husband. I take almost all my photos with the idea of making a painting from it. So some compositional structure is evident. Most just don't have enough juice for me to getting excited about painting them.
Great stuff you are appreciated I didn't plan a painting and it's been sitting on my easel for weeks now ...
it normally it sits there for a few days
Thanks again
That's a good point. It makes it harder to start because it's like leaving for a place you don't know without a map.
Спасибо!
I actually really enjoy the planning process for my paintings and spend time cropping photos and doing value thumbnails before I start. I'm early in my painting journey and trying to establish good habits that will accelerate my growth as a painter. I do have to check myself though to make sure that the prep work is not a form of procrastination or fear of moving forward. I'm also not sure all my preparation is paying off in producing better paintings at this stage in the game, but I know I feel more grounded picking up the brush if I have a game plan. The whole thing really does seem to go smoother. Now if my technical ability catches up with the pre-painting prep--watch out 😊 Thanks for another great video Ian!
Hi Michelle, well you articulate your situation very clearly. I am waiting to see those technical skills catch up!