I finally got my notes in order from the workshop I took with Terry at the Franciscan Life Process Center in Lowell Michigan. These tips are what I wrote down during his slideshow and demonstrations. They are not from his book, as that would be stealing. Some of the tips he gave during those times may be in his book, but again, I am only writing from what I have in my notes from the workshop.
1. Plein Air sketches are not masterpieces. they are for;
capturing color notes,
color shapes,
collecting specific information
2. Photographs are for:
structural information
to use as a process-he enters the photo into a computer program and adjusts to 3-4 simple values to see which value plan he prefers
3. Paint big strong, interesting shapes
4. Paint only 3-4 values
5. Look for light and shadows-you need contrast if you can't find any-move !
6. Painting is a stage: see how light hits the planes (foreground/middle ground/background)
7. Lose an edge of every shape so your painting melds together
Stages of painting
1. Thin wash (this is easier to cover than thick and dries faster)
2. Opaque wash
3. Thick paint
Do thumbnails first before painting-the more you do, the more you see (the less scraping you will have to do and the less paintings you will throw away.
Pick the one you like and do it in a 3-4 value study and stick to it when painting
Do you need a sky? If not leave it out
Decide your focal point (who is your star?) and then everything else is to enhance it/point to it /support it /be subordinate to it
Your focal point can stand out by one or more( but not all) : value/contrast, thicker paint, harder edges, size,shape,- in relation to everything else in your painting.
Your focal point should be neither too big nor too small. (I picked a distant dead tree, and it was too little -the barn in front of me too big-so I'm going to remember Goldilock's' creed -It has to be "just right")
More tips next time and I will try to get permission from Terry to upload one of his paintings for the next post.
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