M Francis M Francis

Day Ninety Six: Untitled by Robertson Kirtland Mygatt

Hello and welcome to day 96 of 100 days of Tonalism.

Painted after - Untitled by Robertson Kirtland Mygatt, Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x5, Oil on wood panel
Today study is 'Untitled' by Robertson Kirtland Mygatt.

Robertson Kirtland Mygatt is a lesser-known Tonalist artist. I have found some biographical information about him which I've read in today's video narration, so please check that out.



Every artist is different and is motivated by different aspects of life to create art. For my part, I essentially decided to be an artist when I was about 13 years old. Art was just one of the many things that I was good at back then. Being a teenager, I was aware that it wouldn't be that long before I would have to leave the shelter of my family and make my own way in the world.

Though my personality was still forming in many ways, I had a decent amount of self-awareness, and after considering the types of career that would be complementary with my personality, I decided art would be the way to go.

From that time forward, I started applying myself industriously to learning how to draw. I remember doing an oil painting back then. I had such a clear image in my mind of what I wanted to do, yet when it came time to paint it, I discovered how little I knew about painting and, how difficult it would be to create something that was even close to comparable with the work of the artists that I admired.

I bailed on that early painting but I stuck with drawing. I would draw everyday, back then, I was very into comic books and I would spend time copying the pictures. I would draw the anatomy of the figures in the various panels. It wasn't long before I became aware of the differences between pencilers and inkers. I noticed that mediocre pencils could be made to look quite good if the penciler had a good inker and conversely that a great pencilled work could be super diminished with shoddy or haphazard inking.

I started teaching myself how to ink using dip pens, I also would use technical pens. After a while I learned how to use a sable brush to ink my pencil drawings. This put me quite far ahead of my peers that were also interested in drawing. They would work very hard on their pencil drawings but would be loath to ink them as they had no real experience of inking. I think that this early exposure to working with brushes and ink was very helpful for my later career as a oil painter.

The thing about ink is that it is much different than pencil. When you make a mark with pen and ink it is either black or white. There is no gray, no intermediate values just on or off. this approach to values provided good learning experience.

Cheers,

M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz

A bit about 'Untitled' by Robertson Kirtland Mygatt; Robert is one of those artists that you really need to know his middle name to find out anything about. He seems to been almost completely forgotten. This painting is very representative of the work of his I've seen in my research into him online. 

I've actually completed two studies, having sold the first version a few months ago. It's interesting to me how my painting changes with time and accompanying shifts in consciousness.

To see more of my work, visit my site here

Original painting, Untitled by Robertson Kirtland Mygatt

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