The Mellow Me

[Linda Nelson]

Thanks for posting more in the series. May I say I think the first one is more of a success than the second. If I had to pinpoint why my first impression would be that the second is overworked as compared to the first - on the first you knew when to stop, and the negative space really works in your favor. On the second one, it seem there's too much information.

Also, On the first I think the play of straight line and hard value is balanced with the right amount of soft edges and gradated textures. In the second there's less of that dynamic going on.

hope this is good food for thought.

[Peter Jochems]

Personally, I find the use of color in these drawings distracting. I prefer them in black and white. The usage of red in the first one isn't connected to something it might express. Now it's purely an aesthetic effect, which gives the original compositions (which I like) an almost kitschy effect.

Maybe you could use these kind of compositions in a more subtle way using a wider range of Gray tones, but that's just a suggestion.

[Judson Eneas]

Have you ever considered painting? I have a feeling that you would be good with oil paint. Try painting on linen.

[Chase Mitchell]

In all honesty... I am a horrible painter. I have no sense of brush control and I have no ability to underpaint or think in layers. I'm someone who puts down the final layer from the start. I know I need to break out of that habit but it's hard.

[Kimber Scott]

Chase,

I like both of your drawings. There is a lot of tension in them. The first seems quite haunting and has a nice composition.

As for painting... there is no sin in painting ala prima - or something close to it. I know many people here like to use under-paintings and they produce phenomenal work, but that is not the only way to paint. Look at Daniel E. Greene, John Singer Sargent, David Leffel and John Howard Sanden. No under-painting there. So, don't be afraid to put down what you have to say, right when you want to say it!

[Marvin Mattelson]

Sargent worked his portrait paintings up in layers, as did the majority of painters through the ages. The paintings that he is best known for are not alla prima paintings., in fact his portraits are as far away from alla prima as they could be. His grand portraits, such as Lady Agnew, are far more impressive than the alla prima studies he did of friends and family.

There are a wide range of underpainting techniques and approaches. Some painters do very controlled underpaintings using grays and then carefully glaze over them. Although this method is what most people think of when they think underpainting, it's far from the only approach utilizing underpainting strategies.

Sargent started by laying in color very broadly and refined the shapes and colors on each subsequent layer. Yes, each layer was painted wet into wet, but over over a dry underlayer. Sargent was of documented by his subjects for subjecting them to numerous sittings; in one case as many as 80 sittings. Sargent worked very very hard to make it look like he didn't work hard at all.

Painting alla prima style (in one shot) offers a certain spontanious charm and energy, but just because some artists do alla prima demos (what else can they do in two hours?) doesn't mean they paint this way all the time. There is a big difference between the demos and finished work of the artists you've cited.

Painters like Bouguereau and Gerome started out with carefully delineated inked drawings which they proceeded to wash over with thin loosely placed color. This would be scumbled over and refined as the painting progressed. The very finished look they achieved bore little resemblance to the way things looked at the start.

I teach my students to start with a transparent underpainting, build it up opaquely and further develop it through scumbling. I have added a recent example of this on my website, if you're interested. http://www.fineartportrait.com/workshop_demo_2.html

When it comes to complex compositions, working without an underpainting is an approach that's dicey at best. Painters throughout history, such as Rembrandt, Van Dyke, Rubins, Lawrence and Raeburn have been well aware of this.

Below is a portrait that Sargent had begun of Edward Wertheimer, who died (unfortunately for him but happily for us) before his painting was completed. It offers us great insight into both Sargent's layering approach and thinking.

[Kimber Scott]

Marvin,

Not meaning to start an under-painting versus ala prima argument - when I spoke of under-painting I should have been more specific to say using a grisaile, or verdaccio, type underpainting. I don't use either of those methods, although, I have been tempted to try to learn them, nor do I paint in a strict ala prima. I generally build dark to lights, thin to thick using a combination of scumbling, glazing and just plain laying on of paint. I'm still learning, so I use whatever works and make discoveries along the way.

When the original poster spoke of working in layers, I immediately thought of the verdaccio and glazing method, whether that is what he meant, or not, and I simply was trying to encourage him to paint.

Thanks for the unfinished Sargent painting! I haven't seen it before and it's quite inspirational - as is all of his work.

[Marvin Mattelson]

Originally Posted by Kimber Scott

When the original poster spoke of working in layers, I immediately thought of the verdaccio and glazing method.

The point I wanted to make was that here are many approaches to underpainting, including the method you yourself employ.

[Kimber Scott]

Point well received! :-)

[Chase Mitchell]

Thanks for the encouragement. I guess the main thing with me is that I've worked with pencils and pens so much that I'm so used to "what's down, is down... no turning back now." So I think opaque from the start. Another big factor is that I'm poor and can't afford canvases and paints. So $1 pencils and $2 pens are my budget.