It's All In The Details...

I'm calling this one done.



Mountain Wolf

Oil on panel

11x14

I started a snow leopard today, this is the first layer, just establishing spots and a base fur layer.

Much more to go.

Oil on gessobord, 11x14.

For atmosphere, I mix up a color of light muddy grey (white + ultramarine blue + burnt umber) and water it down a bit. Then I use a foam brush to wash it over sections of painting that are supposed to be in the distance. This allows the atmosphere to become tangible within the painting. (Check Robert Bateman for good examples)

I also keep most of my detail to my focal points, often leaving large areas blurry or unfinished. However, if you think about the "bokeh" (blurry background) in photographs, this can create a greater sense of realism - some paintings that are crisp in all areas end up looking less real, as we aren't used to seeing that way. Remember, even the human eye has only a tiny focal point - the range outside of that is blurry, and the brain interprets it for us.

Remember, you won't always see detail in passages with bright light or deep shadow. If you blur the areas with intense whitish light, you can create the illusion that the light is so bright that it washed out the detail, as cameras tend to do. Keeping shadows vague will also enhance the sense of mystery. The viewer will want to know what's hidden in the dark areas, but will be unable to see it. (Check out some of David Leffel's work for this)

For realism, extend your values along the entire range from white to black. A lot of painters tend to stay in middle values but this often (not always) makes their paintings look flat. This doesn't mean using pure black or white in large swaths of the painting. Rather, take it to nearly that range and save the high and low keys for just a couple of places (When I paint lately, usually there is only 1 or 2 pin-sized dots of pure white or black at the most important spots)

At various stages of the painting, take a photo of it and greyscale it in a graphics program. If it doesn't convey what you want in greyscale, it won't in color. Also, keep a mirror behind your easel, and check it every so often. You'd be amazed at how much the brain accepts as ok when you stare at something long enough. Looking at the image backwards helps the brain see it fresh.

Here's a WIP of my mom and grandma, this is about 3 sessions in. I'll need to let this layer dry before I do any more work, but still plenty to do.

The original photo is about 1x1", black and white, from a 1940's photo booth. In other words, plenty of guesswork here!

11x14, oils on gessobord.

Here's the next wolf, still more to go yet.

Here's the next one, this is the second layer, I've started to add in some fur. Many more layers to come.

Oil on gessobord, 11x14.

Here's a relatively quick cardinal - playing around with atmosphere.

Oil on gessobord, 9x12.

I think I'm going to call this one done.

Owl, 11x14, oil on gessobord.