The Painting Process - Issue Nº 6
In this series, I share the stories behind my paintings, my thought process, and the discoveries I make along the way.
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Where the True Magic Begins
A couple of days ago, I opened a folder where I stored my work-in-progress images from recent years. As I was looking through the photographs, I saw many of my favorite paintings in the first stages of their creation, with just a few shapes filled in with colors, and I thought, “Yeah, this is where the true magic begins… When you start turning your drawing into a painting”. The contrast between the painted shapes and the still-visible drawing makes the painted areas appear incredibly beautiful and realistic.
Even though drawing is an essential part of the painting process, it often feels like hard work that needs to be done to get to painting, especially when it comes to complex subjects that require many hours of patient drawing and careful measurements. Artists who like to work with color will surely understand what I am talking about.
Color is such a powerful emotional trigger that we kind of become addicted to it, and it makes us want to move faster through the drawing process to get to color application. I have seen this impatience in many of my students, and I am not immune to it either.
Drawing, however, is the foundation of a painting, and the more accurate your drawing is, the more satisfying the painting process will be. Small errors in drawing can be corrected with paint, but bigger errors might be a pain to fix once you move to the painting part. I have learned this the hard way. So, I often spend hours working out my drawing to ensure that the composition looks right and all the objects have the correct proportions.
It’s not rare that as I finish my drawing, I realize that some of the objects in the composition have to be smaller or bigger or moved slightly. In that case, I erase my drawing and start over. I usually dedicate an entire two or three-hour working session to drawing and begin to paint only the next day when my head is fresh. It always pays off. When your drawing is accurate, you can concentrate on the values and colors of the shapes in your painting without being distracted by the need to correct proportions. I adjust the boundaries in my drawing while I paint, but it’s more a refinement of the shapes rather than correcting errors.
Here, I erased my drawing many times before deciding on the figures' final placement and scale.
It’s worth mentioning that your drawing doesn’t need to be detailed because you will cover it with opaque paint anyway (unless you are a watercolor artist). Still, it has to be accurate in proportions and scale, and you need to indicate the boundaries between the shapes that will be painted with different colors/values. With your drawing, you are basically mapping out your future painting.
After many years of painting, I still become very excited every time I see my colors bringing the characters in my drawings to life. With every newly painted shape, I experience the feeling of something truly magical happening, which makes the painting process fun and enjoyable despite all the difficulties a representational painter has to deal with.
When I begin to paint, I have no idea how my painting will turn out, but as the shapes and colors start magically forming believable images on my paper or canvas, I know I am on the right path. That’s why I love seeing my paintings in these early stages.
I wish you Happy Holidays! May the New Year bring you many magical moments and fill your life with joy and excitement!
Lena.
P.S. If you enjoyed this article you might also enjoy my free E-Books and painting guides that can be downloaded here: https://www.lenarivo.com/free-guides
Download my free 30-page PDF, “Everything you Need To Know About Gouache”
In this 30-page PDF you will learn:
How to decide which colors you need when you start with gouache and how you can expand your palette to make it even more effective.
What kind of storage palettes to use with gouache to prevent your beautiful colors from fast drying.
Why you need to use two whites with gouache.
How to choose the right paper and what kinds of brushes work best with gouache.
About the setup that I like using for plein air painting with gouache.
You will also be provided with many useful tips that will make your painting experience smoother.
