Study for Papaya with Bowl of Walnuts graphite/colored pencil/gouache on hand-toned paper 11 x 15″
Do you make studies before you start a painting? Seems like most painting students don’t. We want to paint, not prepare to paint. Making a study prior to painting isn’t required for good artwork, but we learn about a subject every time we draw or paint it, so the act of sketching sure can help to clarify the conversation before we get knee deep in the sloppy stuff.
If drawing before painting causes you have fits of impatience because you want to paint and you want to paint right now, then let ‘er rip!
Here’s the test: take a look at the painting after you’ve made it. (“After” is wide open on the time scale. This be minutes, hours, or months.) Disregarding efficiency, did you get what you wanted out of both the painting session and the finished work? If yes, then continue with your sketch-as-you-go process. If no, then consider shifting how you think about your creative time. It might just be a matter of renaming your “painting” session to a “creative observation” session, or something that includes sketches. That way drawing and studies are seen as part of painting, not something in the way of painting.
Take a look at these drawings below. Notice the attention to individual objects, the spaces, proportions, and the interactions of shapes. Notice the compositional changes that were made after the drawing. She still had plenty of puzzles to figure out in the painting phase, but the conversation behas been clarified.
Blueberries in a White Cup
Study for Blueberries in a White Cup graphite/colored pencil on hand-toned paper 11 x 14 3/8″
Grapefruit with Black Ribbons
Study for Grapefruit with Black Ribbons graphite/charcoal/colored pencil/egg tempera on hand-toned paper 10 1/2 x 13 1/2″
Blueberries in A Bowl with Bean Pod, Cork, and Knife
Study for Blueberries in A Bowl with Bean Pod, Cork, and Knife graphite/colored pencil/gouache on hand-toned paper 11 x 13 1/2″
Elle
Study for Elle graphite/colored pencil/gouache on hand-toned paper 11 1/2 x 12 3/4″
Papaya with Bowl of Walnuts
Study for Papaya with Bowl of Walnuts graphite/colored pencil/gouache on hand-toned paper 11 x 15″
The First Common Photo Device Did you know the first commonly used photographic device was invented by a painter? It’s true! In 1829 French painter and chemist Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre was using a camera obscura for his work on theater sets. He’d obtained the camera from an optician named Chevalier, and was introduced to Nicéphore Niépce, …
High Flight Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there, I’ve chased …
[image_with_animation image_url=”8694″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] This spring, my Friday nights are going to be in an Unconventional Portraits class. These Friday night classes have become my night to do whatever I think would be the most fun thing to do. This quarter I got most excited thinking about Unconventional Portraits. This is not a realist class …
Studies by Susan Jane Walp
graphite/colored pencil/gouache on hand-toned paper
11 x 15″
Do you make studies before you start a painting? Seems like most painting students don’t. We want to paint, not prepare to paint. Making a study prior to painting isn’t required for good artwork, but we learn about a subject every time we draw or paint it, so the act of sketching sure can help to clarify the conversation before we get knee deep in the sloppy stuff.
If drawing before painting causes you have fits of impatience because you want to paint and you want to paint right now, then let ‘er rip!
Here’s the test: take a look at the painting after you’ve made it. (“After” is wide open on the time scale. This be minutes, hours, or months.) Disregarding efficiency, did you get what you wanted out of both the painting session and the finished work? If yes, then continue with your sketch-as-you-go process. If no, then consider shifting how you think about your creative time. It might just be a matter of renaming your “painting” session to a “creative observation” session, or something that includes sketches. That way drawing and studies are seen as part of painting, not something in the way of painting.
Take a look at these drawings below. Notice the attention to individual objects, the spaces, proportions, and the interactions of shapes. Notice the compositional changes that were made after the drawing. She still had plenty of puzzles to figure out in the painting phase, but the conversation behas been clarified.
Blueberries in a White Cup
graphite/colored pencil on hand-toned paper
11 x 14 3/8″
Grapefruit with Black Ribbons
graphite/charcoal/colored pencil/egg tempera on hand-toned paper
10 1/2 x 13 1/2″
Blueberries in A Bowl with Bean Pod, Cork, and Knife
graphite/colored pencil/gouache on hand-toned paper
11 x 13 1/2″
Elle
graphite/colored pencil/gouache on hand-toned paper
11 1/2 x 12 3/4″
Papaya with Bowl of Walnuts
graphite/colored pencil/gouache on hand-toned paper
11 x 15″
See more on her website: https://www.susanjanewalp.com/
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The First Common Photo Device Did you know the first commonly used photographic device was invented by a painter? It’s true! In 1829 French painter and chemist Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre was using a camera obscura for his work on theater sets. He’d obtained the camera from an optician named Chevalier, and was introduced to Nicéphore Niépce, …
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[image_with_animation image_url=”8694″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] This spring, my Friday nights are going to be in an Unconventional Portraits class. These Friday night classes have become my night to do whatever I think would be the most fun thing to do. This quarter I got most excited thinking about Unconventional Portraits. This is not a realist class …