Two Ways to Successfully Lead the Viewer

'Walk with Me'         16x20           pastel          ©Karen Margulis
available $250

I knew this. But for some reason it gave me an AHA Moment when I was thinking about it this morning. It is something I do on purpose for every painting and having to verbalize it made it clear! I love when that happens. I'd like to share my moment with you! It has to do with the composition or design of our paintings. This is the topic we are exploring over on my Patreon page. 

One of the important goals of a painting is to give the viewer and interesting visual journey. We need to give them a way to enter the painting, show them around, show them what is important and have them leave satisfied.  How do we accomplish all of this?

We need to PLAN for it and think about leading our viewer both in the underpainting....what we put underneath, AND what we put on top, or those final layers and marks.

Painting with a Plan.....Value Thumbnail and Notan

• Today's painting was one of my Florida demos. I began the painting with a plan. I did a value thumbnail and a Notan. I thought about what I needed to do to hold the shapes together and guide the eye from the foreground up to and behind the tree. What would I put UNDERNEATH? I added a dark value pathway that would be under the grass but would subtly pull the eye back. I added theses dark shapes in the underpainting.

• As the painting developed I added AREAS OF CONTRAST to attract and pull the eye around the painting. I used hard edges against soft, bright colors surrounded by duller colors, dark shapes of tree trunks against the light of the sky. The flowers also became little stepping stones into the painting.

Armed with this information makes it harder to get lost in the progress of a painting. I am much more likely to have a successful result.

Visit  www.patreon.com/karenmargulis  for more!

Watch Out for This Sneaky Painting Problem

'Where Bumblebees Play'        12x16          pastel        ©Karen Margulis
available $165

It happened without my permission. It was so sneaky that it took me YEARS to see. I was fooled by my own brain and it happens a lot. Sometimes I catch it and sometimes it slips in undetected.  But it is critical that I pay closer attention. In fact it happens to all of us when we paint and awareness is the cure! I am talking about our intellectual brain wanting to put things in order.

Our brains tend to want to organize and put things in order. This is why we end up with rows of similar size and shapes trees and regular spacing between objects. But we enjoy looking at paintings where there is asymmetry and variety. 

We have to be aware of this tendency and fight it....and always be on the lookout for things that are too organized and symmetrical. Have a look at today's painting. It is an older painting that I found in my studio clean up and just reworked.  Look at the photo below. This is the original. Can you spot the issues with the daisies?

The original: How many lines of daisies do you see?

When I painted this I didn't notice the perfect tic tac toe board of daisies. But my intellectual brain had done a good job at being sneaky and coming in to organize my flowers. Look at how perfectly symmetrical they are! The three center daisies are all the same size and shape. They are lined up in a vertical row. There are actually four horizontal rows of daisies. And I  thought I had done a good job! Whew! Back to the drawing board to throw the daisies out of whack!

In progress: Erased the bog center daisies and marked off new placements

What did I do? I brushed out the middle large daisy. I drew circles in the spots where I wanted to add new daisies. I made different size circles to remind me to vary the size of the flowers. I wanted to add some height to move the eye up onto the sky space. I also wanted to keep some daisies with more clarity and detail and let some have softer edges so that they disappeared into the foliage. I adde a couple of bees just for fun!

LESSON LEARNED! Always be on the lookout for that sneaky part of your brain that likes order. 

A Tip for Painting From Reference Photos

'Friendship Meadow'           12x18       pastel        ©Karen Margulis
available $175

I love painting from my photos. Plein air is great and it is important for growth and learning how to really see the landscape. But I like the comfort of my studio most of the time. So I rely a lot on my reference photos. There are many tips I can share for success when painting from photos but I will share one of my favorites here today.

EVALUATE THE REFERENCE AND ELIMINATE THE CLUTTER

So often we get caught up in the details in a photo. It is all too easy to copy what is there without thinking. But do we really need that road in the distance or that branch or that garbage can?  We don't need to put something in the painting just because it is there. We only need it if it helps support our idea and composition. Taking time to edit the photo and eliminate the unnecessary will result in a stronger painting.

my thumbnail

You can see my reference photo below. It has many issues which would result in a bad painting if I copied it as is.  There are a couple of things that I immediately see the need to change.  I see a road and road sign in the distance. Does the painting really need this road? Does it work in my composition? Does it support my concept?  If I am not sure I simply put my thumb over the area. Usually this helps me see if I miss it. In this case the road is not necessary so I will leave it out.

The other issue that I see is the steep angle of the field. I find that it pulls my eye down and off the paper. I will need to change the angle of the field so that my eye stays in the painting. This isn't an issue of clutter but it jumped out at me when I evaluated the photo.

my reference photo

The finished painting is better because of these two small changes. Take a few minutes to evaluate and eliminate clutter before you start painting. It will save you time and result in a more thoughtful and personal painting.

How to Find Simple Shapes in a Painting

'Cliff Edge'       5x7       pastel       ©Karen Margulis
available $75

Big. Simple. Shapes. I repeat these three words when I start any new painting. It is so easy to get caught up in the details. Especially with some of my favorite subjects. Flowers-filled meadows are full of 'stuff'.  It is challenging to simplify and suggest but it all begins with big simple shapes.

Block in a painting with just a few big shapes for a stronger painting. 

Squinting is a very good way to simplify a scene whether you are painting on location or from a photo. Squinting removes a lot of the detail and color allowing you to see the masses of light and dark.  Another good way to see big shapes is to use a scrap piece of glassine or tracing paper.

Glassine is just right for obscuring details. It isn't clear yet it isn't quite opaque either. Place a piece of glassine over your reference photo and it is like looking at the photo with really dirty glasses. Like squinting it allows you to only see the big shapes of light and dark.

For today's painting my concept was the contrast and drama of the setting sun illuminating the flowers at the edge of the cliff leaving much of the hillside in shadow. I used a piece of glassine to create a black and white notan thumbnail.  The glassine was helpful in allowing me to decide what needed to be left in the shadows and what areas should be light.

So don't throw out those scraps of glassine paper. Save them for help with shape finding!  Glassine paper is useful to cover finished pastel paintings. I keep a roll handy and cut pieces as I need them.

My daily 30in30 oil painting '  field study'      5x7    oil

Cheat Sheet: Compose Better Paintings

'Summer Profusion'                12x12            pastel              ©Karen Margulis
painting available $175

Are you a 'top of the pile' artist?  Do you use the paper that is on the top of your pile or do you give serious thought to the size/color/type of paper you will use for each painting? Taking a few minutes to figure out the best size and orientation of paper for the subject leads to better paintings.  It only takes a few minutes. In the end it saves much time and angst.

 The orientation/ format of the paper can have a profound impact on how well our concept for the painting comes across.  We have four main choices: Landscape (horizontal) Portrait (vertical)  Square and Panoramic.

How do we decide which one will be best for our subject?  The usual recommendation is to do a thumbnail. I take this advice a step further.  I like to do several QUICK thumbnails trying out each format. I have developed a cheat sheet for my planning.  (see photo below)

Usually one thumbnail will speak to me the loudest. This is the one I paint. Often I like all of them for different reasons. These can all be developed into paintings. 

One image = 5 potential paintings!

My Painting Plan Worksheet in action

 Using the planning worksheet saved me a lot of aggravation on my demo painting. My intention was to use a piece of 12x18 Uart in a portrait orientation. I thought it would be a good format to show the country road going back into the woods.  I set up my paper for the demo. 

I decided to use my planning worksheet and discovered that I really preferred a square format for the painting. In the thumbnail the portrait format wasn't working at all....too much foreground!  So I marked off a square on my paper. Taking a few minutes for planning was well worth my effort! (I probably would have ended up fussing with the foreground until finally cropping it off anyway!)

my 12x18 paper turned into a 12x12 square

my reference photo

 I am offering my planning sheet in my Etsy store. It is a 2 page worksheet which also gives you space for a color study and questions to help you decide on your painting concept. Sure you can use a sketchbook or scrap paper....but the planning sheet ensures you don't skip a step!  Click here for details. 

Putting Some Life into Your Painting

'Salt Marsh Music'           9x12         pastel         ©Karen Margulis
purchase painting in my Etsy shop $125

My marsh painting was too quiet. That wasn't how it was. I remembered waking early for sunrise over the ocean and then heading over to the marsh coffee and camera in hand. And it wasn't quiet. Sure it was peaceful but the marsh was filled with life. Fish jumping in the creek.  The croak of a heron flying over head. The chatter of our illusive Kingfisher. The marsh was not empty.

My favorites were the silent hunters...the egrets. The creek was filled with both Great White Egrets and Snowy Egrets. They were fascinating to watch as they quietly watched for their breakfast.

My painting needed some egrets!

The natural place to put them was at the edge of the creek but where?  In the foreground? The far bank? How many? How big?   These were important considerations. If I put them in the wrong place or didn't make them the proper size for the location it would ruin the painting.

Here are a few tips for adding life (figures or animals) into a painting.

• Decide if the painting is about the landscape or about the figure. This will determine how much detail you need for the figure vs the surroundings. 

• Try to have a plan. Think about how the placement of the figure will effect the way the viewer reads the painting. Remember that we naturally are drawn to a figure or animal...anything alive! So you want to be sure they are where you want your viewer to look.  Avoid putting them right at the edge of the painting. It might draw the eye right out of the painting!

• Decide how large you need to make the figure/animal. Make sure it will be the right size in relation to the surroundings. A huge egret towering over the grasses will look unnatural.

• If the painting is about the landscape wit a touch of 'life' than a suggestion of that life is all you may need. I made my egrets with a small white mark....no detail at all!

• Uneven numbers are more pleasing. It is said that it is best to avoid equal numbers. I started with one. Then added one on the other side for balance but it was too balanced. So I added a third and then I was happy. You can also vary the sixe slightly or the way the figure faces to add variety to your groups.

• From Edgar Payne:  The viewer's gaze will follow the direction of the gaze of the figure so it is a good plan to have them facing toward the center. Also figures should never be forced too strongly  but should be well integrated into the design.

So if you have a painting and it needs a little life! Go ahead and add some! You can always brush them out if you don't like it!

Are You in a Rectangle Rut?

'Serenity Place'          12x24       pastel      ©Karen Margulis  $250

Are you in a Rectangle Rut?  Take a look at the last few paintings you've done.  What format did you use?  Format refers to the shape and size of the painting surface. We sometimes overlook just how much our format choice effects the outcome of the painting.  Each format choice will convey a very different mood or feeling.

Many times we gravitate towards the rectangle format because it is comfortable. It relates to how we see the world...how our vision works. It is especially common for landscapes.  We can choose to make our rectangles horizontal (landscape) or vertical (portrait).  Each will give us a different feeling. I often like to take a painting that I did in a landscape format and do it again in a portrait format just to get a different point of view.

'Wide Open Spaces'       7x15     pastel   $95

'View Across the Desert'         4x12        acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas  $65

A useful exercise when planning a painting is to do thumbnails in several formats so that you can judge which format best expresses your idea. I will often do a thumbnail in landscape, portrait and square. But now I have added a new format.....the OBLONG also known as panoramic format.

The Oblong format is simple an elongated rectangle. It is a wonderful format for a landscape when you want to stress the expansiveness or openness of the scene. As Richard McKinley says in his post about Format choice "When the rectangle is elongated (1:2) beyond the standard rectangle, a sweeping panorama is created. The eye pans back and forth across the design, imparting expansiveness."

Richard McKinley's post on formats

'In the Sunflower Field'         10x20      oil on canvas   $165 click here

The next time you are painting a landscape ask yourself which format will best convey the place you are painting....what mood do you want to express?  Do a few different thumbnails trying out your idea in different formats and don't forget to try out the oblong!

The only thing I don't like about this format is that it doesn't translate very well in a photo. the photos appear too small and compressed. I wish you could see them in person!