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I've been digging in to thumbnailing lately. I’m just creating shapes in 2 or 3 values, focusing on design principles of balance and contrast at this point, rather than assigning content to the shapes. The shapes could be anything really, the only organizing principle is how the pattern of contrast and form is working together. This keeps the stakes really low and open- there is nothing to preserve or loose at this point. Success is as simple as coming up with something that feels fresh or surprising, like something I haven’t drawn before. Keep it quick, small, and move on. Inevitably, my mind warms up and I begin to think about whatever story or reference is on my mind. In this case I was looking at the painting on the left The Intruder by Andrew Wyeth. I was drawn to the break in the tree line that reveals the sky and to the splash of highlights that lead over the water’s surface, into the immediate foreground. I also was looking at this old picture of a conifer tree behind a large boulder. I like them together, one mostly light, one darker, together they seem to be separate moments of the same story.
I pushed the shapes around until I came up with this little environment thumbnail. It’s not much yet, but I see the potential and I trust it’s architecture already in this state. I assume that I’m seeing more than is actually there, or perhaps something different than what someone else might see in it, but that’s the point of keeping it vague-ish and open. There are more possibilities at this point than anything else. I like to collect paintings that I can learn from by doing studies. I'll give myself a set amount of time, usually 30 minutes (although for this Doré I certainly took longer than that). For these I use a chalk brush to try to stay loose and focused on shape, tone, and color. I don't use the color-picker on the source image that I'm studying, for my purposes that would be defeating the challenge! I try to develop my eye for understanding color in the digital space and where to find it. Looking at it now, I can still see more to do, but the point is not to recreate the original. Rather I want to understand and absorb the architecture that holds the picture together.
Incidentally, this was also my first experience painting on a Wacom Cintique tablet. It was much more comfortable than I would have imagined and at times I forgot I was in Photoshop at all, I just was thinking about color and tone and shape. I'll have to keeping practicing with the Cintique. |
AuthorI'd like to share my process including research, designing an image, painting studies, and final painting techniques using both traditional media and digital tools. I am an artist and illustrator with diverse interests including concept art and children's illustration. Archives
March 2020
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