Tip of the month – February 2009

Have you ever thought of using the same technical approach to two very different subjects?

When I painted TEA WITH LEMONS, I mentioned to my classes that I would approach the subject of snow in the same way. DAY’S END was painted with the same technical approach.

This is a small sample from TEA WITH LEMONS. There are hard edges and soft edges showing the drapery of the cloth.

This piece from DAY’S END also shows hard and soft edges. It helps to illustrate the unevenness of the ground under the snow.

Recently during a workshop, I gave the same advice. The technique that I would use is GRADATION.

After drawing a few curving lines, I applied water above the lines. By pre-wetting, I will be able to achieve a soft edge.

I applied a light wash on the moistened area. Notice that one edge is hard and the other edge is soft. The hard edge is the top of the snow mound or the top of the fabric fold.

Gradation can be applied to many of the elements of design. In the case of fabric folds and snow, COLOR and VALUE are the design elements that I focus on.

When creating fabric folds, I paint a wash of the color of the light on the fabric. With snow, I usually use the white of the paper as my first color. I continue as I did in creating the snow leaving the tops of the folds dry. Before the paint is completely dry, I soften the edges with water.

Starting with gradation to create the uneven surface, I can continue with details such as pattern on the fabric or shadows on the snow to further the illusion.

In this image, I am starting to create the cast shadows on the snow. Notice how they follow the movement of the snow mounds.

You can see that when a shadow comes to the top of a mound, it will change position slightly on the other side of the mound.

In the examples below, allow your eyes to follow the movement of the pattern on the cloth and the shadow movement on the snow.

This idea can also be achieved with organic patterns on the cloth and more irregular shadows on the snow.

It’s all illusion.

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