How I Work
Sent: 1/10/2021 1:02:57 PM

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It starts with a sketch.

Antique Silver Bowl

I work on several projects at once, with each work in progress at a different stage. This allows me to leverage my time while I wait for layers of paint to dry. Plus, I sometimes have the happy interruption of a mural project or commissioned painting, and these must be added to the works in progress queue. Right now I have about seven projects going with a couple of them near completion.

So while we're waiting for the next finished work, I thought it might be fun to share a little about how I work when starting a new painting. It starts with a sketch and usually happens in four stages.

Choosing a meaningful prop

I found this small silver bowl (above), probably 20+ years ago at an antique mall in Tennessee....I think. So I don't know its history, which makes me a little sad. But of course, I can always begin its story with my own family holiday gatherings. I used to serve my cranberry relish in it before we went more casual with our holiday table settings. It's such a happy little piece and I thought it would make a good setting for a little bird drinking water from it. That's the plan anyway. For now, I'll just work on the bowl.

Plotting the basic structure.

Plotting points

Working from life, I use a slip of stiff paper in my outstretched hand to determine heights of the various sections of the object and then draw parallel horizontal lines between each section. When I need to make a curved line, it's easier to measure and see where I might be off. This is a critical stage because it establishes the accuracy that makes a painting believable.

Drawing shapes within.

I think of the three-dimensional object before me as a 2D satellite image. The abstract shapes may look random, but taken together as a whole will give the illusion of reality in the finished piece. Even if a shape looks wrong, I draw it as I see it.

Drawing shapes within

Establishing values

Establishing Values (lights/darks)

Using the value scale on the left, I sketch in the darkest darks first. Each shape means something, either a shadow or a reflection. Silver is highly reflective, so there are a LOT of shapes within shapes. I couldn't possibly paint every minute speck, so I simplify a good bit. Getting the value right for each is important if I want people to recognize this as silver. So I'm constantly checking and re-checking the physical object in front of me, not merely filling in shapes.

I won't have to draw it in this much detail on the canvas. When I'm ready to paint, I'll use a few strategic pencil lines and then sketch an underpainting with a color that will set the tone. Even before I do that, though, I'll need to decide what kind of bird I want there on the edge and add it to the sketch, adjusting the reflection and shadow shapes and values. And that bird, my friends, is where reality and imagination converge. For as much as I love listening to their throaty little tunes, the confounded things just won't sit still!

Until next time,

Jan

P.S. I'm thinking of using this sketch as my next giveaway. What do you think?