From a Distance, 8 x 10, Oil, L. Daniel © 2020
Yesterday I had the great privilege of doing a LIVE interview and painting demo with Eric Rhoads, publisher of PleinAir Magazine, and Fine Art Connoisseur. He has been broadcasting with a different artist every day since the pandemic started... what a gift to artists all over the world! I was interview #224!
For my short LIVE demo, I showed my "Block In" technique - how I get started on a painting. I worked from a completed demo piece I had done for my most recent workshop. The images below show where the painting would've ended up if I finished it, AND aprocess shots of how it would have all come together.
To My Workshop Students:
As promised, these process shots are also for YOU... a reminder of the steps we took in class!
Block In Sketch
Loose lines define simple shapes for placement of subject matter. Shapes only, NO detail. (Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna)
Block In Values (darks and lights)
Loosely massed in value indicates the light and family side of the upright planes. Notice that the nearer upright planes have darkest darks, while distant uprights begin to lighten and become less defined.
Upright Planes - Shadow Family and Light Family
Mixed color is consistent with block in values and loosely massed in. Notice that distant uprights are cooler, lighter, and have less contrast. The farthest upright is muted, lighter, and leans toward blue.
Ground Plane
The ground plane is much lighter than the upright planes because it is parallel to the sky and light source - the sun. Notice that the ground plane becomes cooler and slightly darker as it moves into the distance. Conversely, the ground plane becomes more vibrant as it moves closer.
Sky Plane
The sky plane recedes by becoming more muted and lighter on the horizon. Space for clouds is left white, to be painted after all the other values and colors are established.
Clouds - Breaking up the Masses - Highlights
After all the large areas are massed in, I break them up with subtle value shifts and highlights. I have learned (the hard way) to make sure all the value planes are all reading correctly before adding these final details! ;)
My palette of mixed colors used in the painting.
