River at Dusk 16x22
Hello, and welcome to Tonalist paintings by M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is 'River at Dusk' 16x22.
Our video features the progression of this painting from its early underpainting stages on up through the final finishing brushwork. Also featured is my usual rambling narration, so please check it out.
Today I would like to talk about using studies as painting reference. I did not start out doing studies when I was first teaching myself to paint, I just bought a large stack of 6x8" panels and started painting. For that reason and others, I've am comfortable working in small sizes.
When I came out to New Zealand I started working in larger sizes of 8x12" and also 12x18. For those early New Zealand paintings I did not create any studies. It was not until 2011 or so after watching some interesting videos online by a phenomenal portrait painter, that I started integrating the use of studies into my own work.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to find those videos again or even remember his name. One of the primary methods that this guy used in his painting process was to create a very small color study of the subject prior to doing the larger work. This approach interested me very much and I started to do the same with my work on a regular basis.
These days I might finish my small study a little bit more than I did back in 2011 but the principle is still the same, whereas the study puts a strong emphasis on color and composition and the small size makes it far more difficult to get overly detailed with the rendering.
I generally create my studies the same way that I do the underpainting and first color pass stages of my larger painting by using a photographic reference. For the most part, I have referred to this study only when finishing the larger painting. As I was discussing on the video I did yesterday, I have started to refer to it more and more during that first color pass.
The reason that I avoided using both my photographic reference and the study while painting my first color pass of my larger painting up until recently, is that I often found it somewhat confusing to have two sources of inspiration at the same time. I saw this as serving two masters instead of one.
Now I believe that I have achieved a certain level of artistic vision where it's not the problem that it was last time I attempted to use two sources of reference while painting.
The thing that is good about referencing the study earlier in the process, is that because it is small and simplified it can help me simplify the larger painting as well. I, like so many artists before me. I have been guilty in the past of over detailing my paintings. While I'm aware of this potential problem I still sometimes do not put enough emphasis on creating big decorative shapes in my larger paintings.
When I was painting yesterday I noticed the study against the wall and that I had solved 90% of the problems with the scene already in the study. I was essentially reinventing the wheel with my larger painting but in a way that was not as punchy or as decorative as my study. After taking a break and then coming back and realizing this, I picked up the study and started using it to adjust my first color pass. This really helped the painting I was working on yesterday and I intend to try to doing this some more in my current workflow.
Up to now, one of the main reasons I would do a study was just so that I could go over the reference scene many times prior to jumping into the final painting. There have been times when I did not actually reference it at all when finishing my larger work but it can be and has been a very valuable tool.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'River at Dusk' 16x22; I'm very happy with this painting. As you can see in the video it has been painted over the top of another painting that I was less than happy with. I am pleased now not to have to look at the old failed painting anymore.
What I do when I'm going to paint over the top of an old painting, is I sand it down thoroughly outdoors. The reason why I sand it outside the so that I do not accidentally breath any lead paint dust.
After sanding, I like to rub the surface down with a small amount of drying oil prior to jumping in with the new painting. Unlike my usual working process where I'm working over a raw wood panel that has been tinted red, I have to jump in and start painting. I do tend to work in some rough outlines and dark areas using raw umber and then building up to my chromatic black mixture.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| River at Dusk by M Francis McCarthy, 16x22 Oil Painting on Wood Panel |
Our video features the progression of this painting from its early underpainting stages on up through the final finishing brushwork. Also featured is my usual rambling narration, so please check it out.
Today I would like to talk about using studies as painting reference. I did not start out doing studies when I was first teaching myself to paint, I just bought a large stack of 6x8" panels and started painting. For that reason and others, I've am comfortable working in small sizes.
When I came out to New Zealand I started working in larger sizes of 8x12" and also 12x18. For those early New Zealand paintings I did not create any studies. It was not until 2011 or so after watching some interesting videos online by a phenomenal portrait painter, that I started integrating the use of studies into my own work.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to find those videos again or even remember his name. One of the primary methods that this guy used in his painting process was to create a very small color study of the subject prior to doing the larger work. This approach interested me very much and I started to do the same with my work on a regular basis.
These days I might finish my small study a little bit more than I did back in 2011 but the principle is still the same, whereas the study puts a strong emphasis on color and composition and the small size makes it far more difficult to get overly detailed with the rendering.
I generally create my studies the same way that I do the underpainting and first color pass stages of my larger painting by using a photographic reference. For the most part, I have referred to this study only when finishing the larger painting. As I was discussing on the video I did yesterday, I have started to refer to it more and more during that first color pass.
The reason that I avoided using both my photographic reference and the study while painting my first color pass of my larger painting up until recently, is that I often found it somewhat confusing to have two sources of inspiration at the same time. I saw this as serving two masters instead of one.
Now I believe that I have achieved a certain level of artistic vision where it's not the problem that it was last time I attempted to use two sources of reference while painting.
The thing that is good about referencing the study earlier in the process, is that because it is small and simplified it can help me simplify the larger painting as well. I, like so many artists before me. I have been guilty in the past of over detailing my paintings. While I'm aware of this potential problem I still sometimes do not put enough emphasis on creating big decorative shapes in my larger paintings.
When I was painting yesterday I noticed the study against the wall and that I had solved 90% of the problems with the scene already in the study. I was essentially reinventing the wheel with my larger painting but in a way that was not as punchy or as decorative as my study. After taking a break and then coming back and realizing this, I picked up the study and started using it to adjust my first color pass. This really helped the painting I was working on yesterday and I intend to try to doing this some more in my current workflow.
Up to now, one of the main reasons I would do a study was just so that I could go over the reference scene many times prior to jumping into the final painting. There have been times when I did not actually reference it at all when finishing my larger work but it can be and has been a very valuable tool.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'River at Dusk' 16x22; I'm very happy with this painting. As you can see in the video it has been painted over the top of another painting that I was less than happy with. I am pleased now not to have to look at the old failed painting anymore.
What I do when I'm going to paint over the top of an old painting, is I sand it down thoroughly outdoors. The reason why I sand it outside the so that I do not accidentally breath any lead paint dust.
After sanding, I like to rub the surface down with a small amount of drying oil prior to jumping in with the new painting. Unlike my usual working process where I'm working over a raw wood panel that has been tinted red, I have to jump in and start painting. I do tend to work in some rough outlines and dark areas using raw umber and then building up to my chromatic black mixture.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| River at Dusk 16x22 (Detail) |
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| River at Dusk 16x22 (Detail 2) |