7 Days to Better Paintings – Lesson 2: The Core Pillars

The Core Pillars

It would have been back in my early primary school years when I first picked up a brush. I was one of the lucky ones who found my love for painting at such an early age.

I approached art with a fierce passion, drawing and painting as often as I could, eager to show-off my latest creations to friends and family.

But what I had in passion, I lacked in guidance.

I was one of the few students who actually enjoyed art at school. I would go so far as to say I was the only student in high school who had any interest in becoming an artist.

For most others, art was a "throw-away subject".

I'm not sure what it's like now, but back then, only your top five subjects counted towards your final student rankings. Your sixth subject was the unofficial throw-away subject.

But my art teachers—bound by the rigid, uninspired curriculum—were hardly interested in the development of passionate artists. If anything, they were more focused on those who had already deemed the subject a throw-away.

It was a case of focusing on the 95% of people who had no interest, whilst ignoring the 5% who actually cared.

Looking back, it astounds me that there was not a single mention of what I consider to be the "core pillars" of painting. Color, value, composition, brushwork, drawing, and edge—these areas form the backbone of painting.

They should be the first things we are taught, not things we accidentally stumble upon.

Learning how to paint without understanding the core pillars is like building a house on sand. You might be able to get the framework established, maybe even some walls, but cracks will eventually form...

Anyway, let's get into the meat of this lesson.

I put together some big-picture notes on each of the core pillars to help you understand what they are and what you should be focusing on. This is many years of painting boiled down to a few scentences.

Color (color theory and color mixing):

  • Make sure you understand the fundamental basics of color. What is it? How do we see it? What happens when you mix it? It is embarrassing to admit that I painted for many years without really knowing what color is.
  • Always be curious and ask questions. What color is that? How would I mix it? This is practice you can do away from the studio—no brush and paint required.
  • Accurate use of color in painting comes down to three basic questions: 1. What is the color I want to mix? 2. How do I mix it? 3. Where do I place it? Don't overcomplicate it.
  • If you are new to painting, start with a limited palette of colors, then add more colors if needed. Remember, Anders Zorn created many of his masterpeices with just three colors plus white.
  • Learn color terminology. It will help you understand and communicate your thoughts about color. Off the top of my head, the main terms are: hue, value, saturation, temperature, tint, shade, tone, highlight, mid-tone, and accent.
  • Visit the top museums and galleries to see the master paintings in person. Photos rarely do the colors justice.
  • Simple color mixing and charting exercises can go a long way in developing your understanding and application of color (no matter what your skill level is).

Value (how light or dark a color is):

  • Value can establish the fundamental structure for your painting.
  • If you get your values right, you will have more flexibility with your hues, brushwork, and other elements, whilst retaining a sense of realism. For an example of this, look at paintings by the great Australian artist, Sir Authur Streeton. They look effortless and relaxed, as if he painted on the spot without hesitation. Yet they have a remarkable quality of realism because of his use of value—you can really feel the dry Australian landscape.
  • Don’t try to paint every single value you see (every single change in value). Simplify the values into groups or masses. You will end up with a more clear and concise painting.
  • Every color has an underlying value between pure white and pure black. Being able to translate a color into value is surprisingly difficult, but essential for realistic paintings.

Composition (how everything is arranged and designed):

  • Study great compositions. Why do they work?
  • Composition can be boiled down to two questions: 1. What do you want to say? How are you going to say it?
  • A great composition should effortlessly flow from one area to the next. But every now and then you will be hit with an abrupt statement which commands your attention and breaks the flow.
  • Practice designing your own compositions using small thumbnail sketches.
  • The common rules and theories of composition are just guidelines; do not treat them like rule-bound instructions.

Brushwork (the nature and appearance of your strokes):

  • Don’t get caught up using the same techniques over and over again. Mix it up.
  • Focus on brushwork efficiency. How much information can you convey with a single stroke of your brush? The Russian Impressionists are masters of this.
  • How you use your brush is far more important than what brushes you use. With that being said, quality does matter with your brushes. I use Rosemary & Co brushes—they are fantastic but on the pricey side.
  • The way you make marks on the canvas can be a key feature of your work in and of itself (just look at the iconic strokes of Vincent van Gogh’s work).

Drawing (the accuracy of your lines, shapes, and perspective):

  • Painting is basically just drawing with color. If you want to become a great painter, then make sure you are also training your drawing skills.
  • Short, regular sketches will keep your hands and eyes sharp.
  • Join a local drawing class if possible.

Edge (the relationships between hard, soft, and lost edges):

  • An edge can be hard, soft, or lost. The relationships between these edges are what matters.
  • Hard edges tend to command attention when surrounded by soft edges (hint: use hard edges to draw attention to your focal point).
  • Edges provide a substantial amount of information about a subject. Make sure you get them right! One of the most common mistakes I see is hard edges which should be soft, or soft edges which should be hard.
  • Start by identifying the hardest edge in a scene, then work back from there.

This is fundamental stuff, not some "secret sauce" which I am claiming as my own. It is taught at all the top art schools and by all the top art teachers.

But obviously, most people do not have a chance to attend a top art school or learn under a passionate and knowledable teacher. If you manage to find a good teacher, hang onto them like glue—they are worth their weight in gold!

[Exercise] Consider where your strengths and weaknesses lie. Rank the core pillars from strongest to weakest, based on how comfortable you are with them, your natural tendancies, and what you are interested in.

Your strengths may end up being a key differentiator of your work. Push your strengths! Dive deep down that rabbit hole.

As for your weaknesses, try to bring them up a notch. They don't need to become one of your key strengths, but you don't want them to be a weakness either.

Personally, my key strength is color, and my key weakness is drawing. So, taking my own advice, I am always trying to further my knowledge and application of color. As for drawing, I practice (almost) every day. If you ask me in a year, it won't be a weakness anymore.

Your end goal is for each of the core pillars to be made from stone, marble, and garnished with 24 karat gold. They will form the foundation of everything you do as an artist.

You don't want the pillars to be made from straw and mud...

Happy painting!

Regards

Dan Scott

drawpaintacademy.com

PS. Had some great feedback from the first lesson—thanks! I may not respond but I am reading every email.

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