More Exercises

Here is another exercise from Ruskin's The Elements of Drawing. I took a branch, hung it horizontally, as it grows on the tree, and drew the outline of the branch and leaves from a profile view. Then I filled-in the outline with ink. Believe me, this was a total chaos of lines until I filled-in with the ink!

Next, I drew the same branch as it would be seen from below or above. Ruskin says that "Nature puts her best composition into the profile arrangement." Do you agree?

 I just found out, The Elements of Drawing is available online at no cost through the Gutenberg Project. I am really enjoying these exercises! And right now I am glad I am not using color. I had cataract surgery yesterday, and colors look different in each eye! My doctor says that will change though... We'll see! I can't wait to have the other eye done so I'll have a matched set of eyes!

Patterns in Red and Black

Patterns in Red and Black - 6 x 6" - oil on panel

Some pictures just ask to be painted! I was in Huntington, WV, with my artist buddies, Linda and Judy. We came upon a sidewalk cafe, and the colors and shadows were great! I said that it was too bad no one was sitting at the cafe... Well, Linda and Judy didn't miss a beat. They ran over and sat down! I whipped out my camera, and just then, a couple came down the street, both dressed in black! Was this not too perfect?

I painted this using the "Zorn Palette" of yellow ochre, red, black, and white. This makes some colors impossible to mix, but gives the work an internal color harmony. I also connected the darks to make for a better composition. If you look at it with half-closed eyes, you just see it as a pattern.

I welcome comments on this painting! Would you have used the Zorn palette? Or do you have other favorite colors?

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The Red Barn

...The Red Barn...

oil on panel - 6" x 6"

How's this for an "S" shaped composition? There really was a road curving uphill to the barn, but it didn't curve this much. I exaggerated the curve to hopefully make the painting more pleasing to the eye. According to the book, Composition of Outdoor Painting, by Edgar Payne, "The dominant curves and slanting lines in this type generally suggest grace and movement and an easy relation of the parts."

By the way, I have found this book to be one of the most useful books I own. When planning a painting, I like to try out different compositional arrangements in a sketchbook first. I know, the wording is old fashioned (it was first published in 1941), but it has more actual principles that you can use than almost any of the art instruction books published today. If you are a painter who does outdoor subjects, I highly recommend it. I had considered at some point doing a book review on it, but there is so much in it, that would be hard to do in a single post.

I hope you are having beautiful weather and can get out and paint!

Daffodils II - SOLD

...Daffodils II...
Oil on canvas - 6" x 6"

I am starting to realize that I tend to group my subjects in groups of two, while as an artist, I know that groups of three, or odd numbered groups are considered more interesting. I wonder if there is a deeper significance here? Or is it just that when working on a 6" square that I want to complete that day, I just don't want a lot of detail. A lot of daily painters just paint single objects... maybe I should try that?

But when you have two, or more, they seem to relate to each other, so it seems to give the painting a story, if only in the viewer's mind. What is the story here?