Some days you may stand before a canvas and just stare blankly. The muse has abandoned you and you are left with a desire to paint and no idea of what you could possibly create.
On other occasions, you are bristling with creative ideas and innovative ways of approaching a subject. You cannot paint fast enough to get all your ideas out.
Either way, the artist needs to decide how much to plan and how much to leave to the winds of fate. Having a plan is much like a having a roadmap. You can see where you are going and where you will end up. The downside to this method is that if you refuse to veer off the path, you lose spontaneity. However, painting without a plan leaves the artist open to a disaster that fails to engage the viewer and leaves the message a mystery.
As the student progresses in his studies, he will find out what level of planning leaves him opportunities for spontaneity but prevents him from winding up with a fiasco.
What Is The Subject?
Sometimes there is just nothing to paint, or perhaps there is a glimmer of an idea flickering with no firm shape. Times like this call for paper and pencil. Daydreaming and doodling may ignite a spark, or taking a walk or Googling a favorite subject. Sketch some potential compositions. The drawing may be full of details or a few hasty pencil strokes conveying a basic composition. This is especially important for the student just learning the basics of composition and the placement of elements in a painting. As the student’s self-confidence grows, he can minimize the need for detailed studies. Reference photos can also be useful to help answer questions or to solidify an idea.
Spontaneity need not be sacrificed for the convenience of knowing that a composition is satisfactory. It merely seals the concept for the artist and opens the way to focusing on painting, knowing that the compositional hurdle has been conquered.
Shape Follows Function
The subject the artist selects influences the size and shape of his painting. Rectangular supports, either horizontal or vertically positioned will be the easiest to use. Extremely long or thin shapes give an immediate sense of drama, as they are less frequently used. The subject may lend itself to a particular size or shape, but the artist may elect to think outside the box. Through inventive composition, he may use a canvas not typically suited to a particular theme.
Does Size Really Matter?
Size is a wide-open subject. A miniaturist may never paint anything larger than six or eight inches in diameter and still include incredible detail. Another artist may never paint anything less than several feet wide and eliminate all but the barest essentials to convey a subject.
An artist should never base his painting on the size of paper or canvas he happens to have on hand. A watercolorist can crop his paper to size or use multiple sheets to create a diptych or triptych. Canvas supports are available in innumerable sizes, and a crafty artist can build his own custom sizes. The student should work on a size that he feels comfortable with until he is ready to work outside his comfort zone. When that time comes, he may decide to his next painting will be a learning exercise in expanding his skill to accommodate an oversize or extra-small support.
Develop Mediums And Techniques
If you are a beginning art student, you may only be familiar with one medium. If the artist is versed in multiple mediums, he must choose which type of paint will play off the subject to its best advantage. Is it a light and airy scene that watercolor would interpret best or a dark and somber tone that heavy oils could illustrate well?
However, he still needs to decide the style to use in depicting the subject. There is no wrong or right choice in this matter. If you are passionate about a subject, you may elect to paint a series in that theme, using a different style or technique for each rendition. The artist may concentrate on one particular style to become more comfortable with it. Tight or loose, realistic or abstract, there are many ways to approach a subject and that depends on the artist’s mood, skill and enthusiasm.
Supportive Measures
The artist has selected his medium and the size of painting he will do. He needs to determine the type of support he will use. An oil painter may elect to use gessoed Masonite or canvas. Within the choice of canvas, he must decide whether it will be thin or thickly woven, comprised of fine or coarse fibers. A watercolorist must determine whether he will use smooth or textured paper or illustration board. An acrylic artist has all of those choices, as he is able to work in the either style.
The technique he uses will also affect his decision. A heavily textured or impasto painting may become damaged if the support is not rigid. This type of painting may be best suited to Masonite. Very wetly painted watercolor should only be painted on heavy paper or properly stretched lightweight watercolor paper to avoid buckling.
Colors For All Seasons
Color selection is a combination of the temperature the artist wishes to convey to his viewer and the temperament of the artist at that moment. A palette of colors can be representational, abstract, monochromatic or limited palette. It can also be what the artist had left from his last painting. As the painting progresses, the artist may alter colors, change them or eliminate them altogether. Use color to play down a passage, bring a focal point into prominence or grab the viewer’s attention. As with every other aspect of the painting, the artist has many choices.
Use your intuition as you wade through the murky waters of learning your craft as an artist. Be spontaneous, but temper that with educating yourself in how best to portray your subjects. Step outside your comfort zone on occasion to experiment, but practice the traditional lessons to increase your skill level.
A good cook prepares not only standard fare, but creates an exotic dining experiences every once in a while. Go create a new dish!
