study – AUTUMN SKY © Sharon L Hicks, 2013
CP ... 5 x 7
Here we are, day 7, study # 7. This marks a full week of posts. 3 more weeks to go, plus a couple days.
This study marks a couple changes in the process I've been developing for these quick studies. For one thing, the initial cotton-ball stage only took 15 minutes this time, which left a good 45 minutes to do the 'finishing' work. It's like any other venture in life - the more you do something, the easier (and often quicker) it becomes. The activity becomes more 'automatic'.
I can relate this phenomenon to my current latest 'endeavour' - I've joined a Tai Chi class. We meet once each week, and last night marked the 6th week I've attended. For anyone unfamiliar with this form of martial art / exercise, there are 108 'moves' in a 'set'. Each move is learned individually, and then put together in sequence. The first night we covered the first couple moves, with all the little 'transition' steps which take you from one move to the next.
I've never been all that coordinated, but I do like a challenge. I was absolutely certain I'd never master even those first opening moves, but I really enjoyed the process, so I went back the next week. Imagine my surprise when I discovered those first few moves were not so hard the second time ... and then we learned a couple more moves, which again I was certain I'd never get the hang of.
This pattern has repeated itself each week, until now the first 15 moves have become 'almost' automatic, and we learned the final couple moves in this starting sequence of 17 moves. AND there's only 91 left to go!! Do I feel daunted? 6 weeks ago I was feeling quite daunted, as I watched the more experienced members of the group go through the entire set of 108 moves. But now? Nope. I know that with time the entire process will become 'routine', as muscle memory takes over.
And it's the same for any artistic endeavour as well - the hand-eye link is forged and strengthened by repetition. The more you do something, the easier and more direct it becomes. This was the case with this series of 30 quick studies. I started with 30 minutes for the initial draft, but by the time I reached study # 30 I was able to capture the essence of the information I needed in only 5 minutes.
Here's the progression of this particular study:
my photo after 15 minutes after 1 hour
As I mentioned previously, the initial cotton-ball draft for this one took only 15 minutes, as my process evolves. You can see how I altered the original a bit, leaving out some elements (like the branches in top right), and doing a bit of rearranging to make a stronger composition.
I can't stress that point often enough - it's the 'composition' that counts most, not create an 'exact replica'. We have cameras to 'record reality', we use paintings to 'express an impression' of that reality. It's important not to confuse the two. Of course if you're doing portraits, then it does become important to 'get it right', to get a good likeness of the subject, but that's a horse of another colour. In landscape, 'interpretation' is where it's at.
I tend to be very detail-oriented in my work, and I spent quite a few years perfecting my 'photo-realistic' techniques using Coloured Pencils, but eventually that process became more-or-less automatic, and I needed to stretch the artistic muscle a bit and try some looser work. Exercises such as this little series are excellent for 'loosening up', and changing my focus from detail to overall picture. I find now I'm reaching an equilibrium - work 'general' first, and THEN work in some details. Seems to be a good direction, so far.
Another departure with this study ... originally I'd planned to wait until all 30 were completed and then pick a few to use as models for larger paintings. However, the 'oil painting bug' had hit me suddenly, I pulled out the old paintbox and dusted off the old brushes. I really liked this sky, so decided to translate it into an oil painting. It just 'felt right'.
AUTUMN SKY © Sharon L Hicks, 2013
oil ... 12 x 16
For this I painted straight from the study, rather than referring back to the original source photo. That way I was translating my original impressions, rather than reinventing the wheel. Oil paint is a medium I haven't done much with for quite awhile, so this sky study was a good place to start. More will follow, I'm sure.
So, until tomorrow, when we'll examine study # 8, I want to say thank you for following this series so far, and stay tuned for what comes next.
Cheers
Sharon
