Morning Glade 8x10
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
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| 'Morning Glade' by M Francis McCarthy, 8x10 Oil Painting on Wood Panel |
Today's painting is 'Morning Glade' 8x10.
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 like to talk about approaches to oil painting. I have noticed that many artists, especially amateurs, will say that they can or cannot paint certain objects, figures or places. The problem with thinking this way is that they're not thinking of their painting as a painting.
The fact of the matter is that everything portrayed on your two-dimensional painting surface is nothing more than a shape. You have big shapes and you have little shapes, smooth shapes and sharply pointed shapes, colorful shapes and dull shapes, bright shapes and dark shapes, all just shapes.
Thinking about what you are painting in this way can be highly beneficial, especially if you find yourself having to paint something that you have not been previously comfortable approaching.
When I was a kid we had paint by number kits available pretty much everywhere. What you got inside the kit was a canvas board that had been divided into shapes and an accompanying set of paints all numbered to match with the corresponding shapes. As an artist, there is nothing precluding you from thinking in the same way when you approach your own work.
One thing that is important to remember when approaching a motif is that you should be concentrating on the big shapes first and avoiding most of the smaller shapes in your reference. Your painting will succeed or fail based on the harmony and balance of your large shapes.
Many amateur artists and even some (surprisingly successful) professional artists over clutter their work with an endless array of tiny shapes. This is usually a byproduct of their working with photographic reference. The camera captures and delineates everything in a scene equally. Human vision does not work like that and it is a painter's job to be aware of this fact and incorporate this knowledge into their work.
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Morning Glade' 8x10; I did this painting back in March 2014 and have since sold the painting. I see it predominately as a painting of light. There's not a lot going on in the scene other than light and color.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| 'Morning Glade' 8x10 by M Francis McCarthy (Detail) |
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| 'Morning Glade' 8x10 by M Francis McCarthy (Detail 2) |