The ART of THICK PAINT

29. See Differently

As you draw with paint onto a toned canvas make note of various shapes as they appear in the scene, how they interlock and affect each other. Be sure to look for field effects as well as the quality of edges. At first everything will appear as patches of wildly contrasting value. With practice you will begin to see simple patterns. Remember the five value zones discussed previously. Careful observation will reveal at least three zones. It is the interplay of these zones that will give compositional substance to your work. If you don't easily see patterns you might consider making a red filter. If you can't locate some red cellophane you can make a filter by mixing Quinacridone red with acrylic gloss medium and painting the mixture on a piece of plastic (from packaging or from an old CD case).

When you look through this filter the greens will be neutralized and you can more easily see the scene as just two values. This can help you start see the 3 to 5 zones that make a solid composition. I have heard of some artist bending over and peering between their legs to look at their motif upside down. I prefer to use a prism. However, remember that a prism turns your sight upside down but also flops it horizontally (you can make or buy a prism that will not flip the image horizontally but I find a regular prism shakes up my preconceptions well enough).

I have also heard of artists looking into a dark mirror, a mirror made dark by a dark backing instead of silver. But I find this method doesn't work better than a red filter which I prefer as it is easier to carry around and won't break. But perhaps the best-known and most useful method is simply squinting. When you squint at your subject it has the effect of allowing you to see basic values by reducing the amount of color your eyes can perceive.

Start by squinting just a bit and paying close attention to how much color you see. As you increase squinting eventually you see only light and dark. Eventually you will squint so much your eyes are effectively closed and you see next to nothing. All these variations of squinting are useful to get a different perspective of various values. Remeber to squint to see value only and not color. If you want to simplify color blur your eyes (or put on a pair of reading glasses if blurring your eyes gives you a headache). As you look at your scene with blurred eyes color will average out into patches. You will see the pattern of color more clearly. As you look at your scene remind yourself that the five zones are lightest in the sky, next the ground, mountains are half dark (as are steeply pitched roofs), and trees, or upright planes like poles, are the darkest. The fifth value would be a road or path on the ground plane that will make an additional value zone if the value is radically diiferent from the surrounding zone (new asphalt roads generally fit this category).