I was in a waiting room the other day, doing what everyone does – wait.
With an absence of available reading material, I got up to give the prints decorating the walls a closer look.
I’ve sat in this particular reception area many times over the years and have never given the pictures a second glance. The only reason I did so then was the interminable delay and a lack of outdated magazines.
The prints of watercolors paintings were by one artist who had chosen a specific color theme and painting style for all of the paintings. This is fairly common for painters doing decorative art. You know – the year’s popular decorating color palette used to produce nice wall art for Mr. and Mrs. Home Decorator.
The colors were lovely and the watery, impressionistic style was almost verging on abstract art. The compositions were fine and the craftsmanship was good. So, what’s the problem with these nice pieces? They were a blur of pale and light colors with no real darks. Even the darkest areas, of which there were few, could only be considered mid-tone shades.
Contrast Creates A Modeled, Three-Dimensional Space
While there’s nothing wrong with a delicate painting, the total lack of contrast made the compositions appear flat. These landscapes were without depth and could just as easily been wallpaper.
As I peered at one scene, I found there was a lot going on in the composition. Close examination produced a wandering path moving from the foreground into a wooded area, a jumbled rock wall, a cottage behind the wall and a mother and child enjoying a walk. By the time I was finished looking at that piece, I was tired of unearthing the components of the composition. I couldn’t even bother with the other similarly styled print.
It doesn’t matter how delicate your pastel colors or how light you want your piece to appear. You still need to add darks to give shape and dimension to your painting. Even a white egg on a white countertop has shading that give it a three-dimensional appearance and the shadows it throws on the white counter will reach from a very pale gray at the furthest point to an inky dark where it sits on the counter.
Three Values To Define The Big Picture
Although there are an almost infinite number of gray shades between white and black, you can usually break any object down into three values; light, mid-tone and dark. By massing in your objects this way, you immediately create the dimensional quality of the components in your painting. You can worry about detail later, but with the dimension established, you have a good overview of your subject and surrounding elements.
Shadows Ground Elements To The Viewing Plane
When you’ve established your values, you can see how dark you need to make the deepest portion of your shadows. Good shadows are important reinforce the three-dimensional quality of your objects as well as indicate the direction and intensity of the light source.
Your shadows vary depending on the strength and direction of the light source. Even on the cloudiest of days, you will have some shadows. Even if they are only directly adjacent to the objects in the composition, they do exist.
Don’t Let Local Color Confuse The Issue
If you’re having a hard time ignoring the actual colors of your composition while establishing your compositional components, use a black and white photo to eliminate color confusion.
If you’re working in a studio with the composition in front of you, take some photos from the same vantage point as you’re using for your painting. Print them out in black and white and you can see your value range easily.
If you’re still unsure, photograph your painting and print it out in black and white to compare what you’ve done to what your composition looks like in black and white. This can be a great help, regardless of whether you’re a beginner or more advanced in your skills.
Start With A Toned Canvas
If you’re working with oil or acrylic, it’s easy to start with a toned canvas. Use a mid-tone to coat the support. Now, all you need to do is add your lights and darks. This is a great way to speed up the process, and it’s a good exercise when painting with a limited palette.
Pastel artists often use toned paper for virtually all of their work. For watercolors, you need to keep in mind the translucent nature of the paint. This isn’t the easiest way for a watercolorist to begin a painting, but with the right knowledge and colors, it can be done.
For me, contrast is one thing that takes a painting from amateurish to the next level. It doesn’t matter how skilled you are at drawing or selecting colors if you wind up with a flat, dull image. Use contrast to give your painting drama and energy. Make your subject stand out and your focal points shine.
