Dappled Glade 8x10
Hello and welcome to Tonalist paintings by M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is Dappled Glade 8x10.
Today's video shows the progression of this painting from its initial early drawing stages, on up to the final glaze applications and brushwork, so please check it out.
There are two basic approaches to landscape painting; direct and indirect. For the most part, Tonalism favors an indirect approach and I have written about this in previous blog posts. Today I like to talk about some of the reasons why I use the indirect method and also the benefits that come from working this way.
I start with and underpainting which I generally refer to as a drawing (even though it is done with a brush and paint). Doing an underpainting is one of the most defining characteristics of working in an indirect manner, as the painting is built up in stages from the underpainting on through to the last final touches over time.
I was working with a student last week and I may post the audio from that teaching session at some point on this blog. One thing that I kept mentioning to my student was how I would purposely do things to support myself as a painter, because I feel that the indirect method gives us the most support as landscape painters.
By support, I mean that each time that you are approaching the painting with a brush in your hand you have some previous work that been done that is supporting the effort that you are about to expend.
This support starts with taking a good photograph. Then, (in my case) the support continues by manipulating that photograph in Photoshop so that by the time you are ready to use it as photographic reference for your painting, you have already got the creation process well underway.
Then the wood panel is prepared with a nice texture that invites paint application. After that, I can proceed with doing a duotone under painting/drawing. At this stage the painting has begun but there is still a lot of room to change things and adjust before the actual color painting starts.
Another way that I support myself as a painter, is that prior to doing the initial color stage I will premix anywhere from 8 to 10 of the major colors from my motif. I often adjust these, but I find it's helpful to premix because I'm familiarizing myself with the basic and most important colors in the painting prior to picking up my brush.
So, before I begin my first color pass, I have already expended some effort. This allows me to focus on the color modulations and important value changes of my subject while painting. I have already sorted out my composition and basic value structure in the underpainting/drawing stage.
Many painters who work in a direct manner (alla prima) skip all of these previous stages and just jump unto a white canvas with a brush, their reference, or outdoor scene (if that is how they are working). I think this is the primary way that many people think that painting should be done these days, and it is possible get a good result this way. For the type of painting I like to do it would be much more difficult for me if I didn't have these initial support stages to get the results that I am after.
The final way that I support myself as a painter is that I do not attempt to do all of my painting in that first color pass, but reserve certain areas to be painted when the painting is dry so that I can take advantage of glazing and dry brushing and also have time to consider and plan the best way to proceed with my painting.
Hopefully, this has given you some insight into the reasons that I work in an indirect manner and the advantages that it has. I should say here that the main downside to working indirectly is running the risk of overworking your painting while the primary advantage of working directly is that you will generally retain the more fresh approach that comes from putting all your paint on at once.
Cheers,
M Francis McCarthy
A bit about 'Dappled Glade' 8x10; this painting currently is hanging in my studio at the Quarry Art Center in Whangarei. I completed it about a month ago. It's a striking painting mostly because of the intense contrasts between the light and dark areas. I enjoyed doing this painting and I will most likely be doing more of this type of landscape in the future.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Dappled Glade by M Francis McCarthy, 8x10 Oil Painting on Wood Panel |
Today's video shows the progression of this painting from its initial early drawing stages, on up to the final glaze applications and brushwork, so please check it out.
There are two basic approaches to landscape painting; direct and indirect. For the most part, Tonalism favors an indirect approach and I have written about this in previous blog posts. Today I like to talk about some of the reasons why I use the indirect method and also the benefits that come from working this way.
I start with and underpainting which I generally refer to as a drawing (even though it is done with a brush and paint). Doing an underpainting is one of the most defining characteristics of working in an indirect manner, as the painting is built up in stages from the underpainting on through to the last final touches over time.
I was working with a student last week and I may post the audio from that teaching session at some point on this blog. One thing that I kept mentioning to my student was how I would purposely do things to support myself as a painter, because I feel that the indirect method gives us the most support as landscape painters.
By support, I mean that each time that you are approaching the painting with a brush in your hand you have some previous work that been done that is supporting the effort that you are about to expend.
This support starts with taking a good photograph. Then, (in my case) the support continues by manipulating that photograph in Photoshop so that by the time you are ready to use it as photographic reference for your painting, you have already got the creation process well underway.
Then the wood panel is prepared with a nice texture that invites paint application. After that, I can proceed with doing a duotone under painting/drawing. At this stage the painting has begun but there is still a lot of room to change things and adjust before the actual color painting starts.
Another way that I support myself as a painter, is that prior to doing the initial color stage I will premix anywhere from 8 to 10 of the major colors from my motif. I often adjust these, but I find it's helpful to premix because I'm familiarizing myself with the basic and most important colors in the painting prior to picking up my brush.
So, before I begin my first color pass, I have already expended some effort. This allows me to focus on the color modulations and important value changes of my subject while painting. I have already sorted out my composition and basic value structure in the underpainting/drawing stage.
Many painters who work in a direct manner (alla prima) skip all of these previous stages and just jump unto a white canvas with a brush, their reference, or outdoor scene (if that is how they are working). I think this is the primary way that many people think that painting should be done these days, and it is possible get a good result this way. For the type of painting I like to do it would be much more difficult for me if I didn't have these initial support stages to get the results that I am after.
The final way that I support myself as a painter is that I do not attempt to do all of my painting in that first color pass, but reserve certain areas to be painted when the painting is dry so that I can take advantage of glazing and dry brushing and also have time to consider and plan the best way to proceed with my painting.
Hopefully, this has given you some insight into the reasons that I work in an indirect manner and the advantages that it has. I should say here that the main downside to working indirectly is running the risk of overworking your painting while the primary advantage of working directly is that you will generally retain the more fresh approach that comes from putting all your paint on at once.
Cheers,
M Francis McCarthy
A bit about 'Dappled Glade' 8x10; this painting currently is hanging in my studio at the Quarry Art Center in Whangarei. I completed it about a month ago. It's a striking painting mostly because of the intense contrasts between the light and dark areas. I enjoyed doing this painting and I will most likely be doing more of this type of landscape in the future.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Dappled Glade by M Francis McCarthy, 8x10 (Detail) |