#6 Leon Richet "Landscape" - 25 Days of Tonalism
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study after Leon Richet 'Landscape'.
Our video features the progression of this study 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'd like to talk about areas of landscape painting that I call "eye-catching spots". I wish I had a more elegant term for this particular painting phenomenon but "eye-catching spots" is the best I could come up with.
"Eye-catching spots" refers to areas of the painting that catch the viewer's eye intentionally or inadvertently. The goal of a landscape painter is (of course), always to make it intentionally. This idea could refer to composition (the overall underlying structure of the painting), yet many times, "eye-catching spots" are created accidentally and have nothing much to do with the painting's composition.
Here are some general ways "eye-catching spots" are created:
If you watch my videos you will see there is almost always a time (usually at the end of each painting session), where I go over my painting with a palette knife. Many times it doesn't seem from watching the video that I am doing much of anything but what I am usually doing with the knife is obviating these "eye-catching spots". This takes care of the spots that I am seeing consciously.
As far as catching the spots that I do not readily see, that usually occurs while my painting is in my studio's drying area. Over the time that the painting is drying and I am working on other works, I am visually scanning the painting and looking for areas that can be improved or for these "eye-catching spots".
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study after Leon Richet 'Landscape'; as I stated in the video this painting got a lot a favorable attention, well it was in the drying area of my studio. A lot of people were getting excited by the fact that I had painted a cottage into a landscape scene which is not something that I usually do.
It's not something I plan on doing a lot more of either but I am happy with the way this study turned out and I really enjoy Leon as a painter and hope to make more studies after his work in the future. I have some links to information about Leon Richet here and here.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Painted after - 'Landscape' by Leon Richet, Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x7, Oil on wood panel |
Our video features the progression of this study 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'd like to talk about areas of landscape painting that I call "eye-catching spots". I wish I had a more elegant term for this particular painting phenomenon but "eye-catching spots" is the best I could come up with.
"Eye-catching spots" refers to areas of the painting that catch the viewer's eye intentionally or inadvertently. The goal of a landscape painter is (of course), always to make it intentionally. This idea could refer to composition (the overall underlying structure of the painting), yet many times, "eye-catching spots" are created accidentally and have nothing much to do with the painting's composition.
Here are some general ways "eye-catching spots" are created:
- Areas that are brighter than the surrounding areas, whether due to pigmentation or glare coming off the painting.
- Areas significantly darker that are isolated by bright areas surrounding them.
- Human figures or animals in a landscape painting.
- Bits of dried paint that are a different color than the paint around them or just sticking out enough to catch the light.
- A brush stroke or brushstrokes going a very different direction or color than the surrounding brushwork.
- Hairs from a brush
- Big blobs of paint that stand out from the overall surface.
If you watch my videos you will see there is almost always a time (usually at the end of each painting session), where I go over my painting with a palette knife. Many times it doesn't seem from watching the video that I am doing much of anything but what I am usually doing with the knife is obviating these "eye-catching spots". This takes care of the spots that I am seeing consciously.
As far as catching the spots that I do not readily see, that usually occurs while my painting is in my studio's drying area. Over the time that the painting is drying and I am working on other works, I am visually scanning the painting and looking for areas that can be improved or for these "eye-catching spots".
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study after Leon Richet 'Landscape'; as I stated in the video this painting got a lot a favorable attention, well it was in the drying area of my studio. A lot of people were getting excited by the fact that I had painted a cottage into a landscape scene which is not something that I usually do.
It's not something I plan on doing a lot more of either but I am happy with the way this study turned out and I really enjoy Leon as a painter and hope to make more studies after his work in the future. I have some links to information about Leon Richet here and here.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Original painting, "Landscape" by Leon Richet |
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| "Landscape" by Leon Richet (Detail) |
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| "Landscape" by Leon Richet (Detail 2) |