Do you plan your painting before you start? Or just start and hope for the best?

@Tizaheijting

3 жыл бұрын

I do that now that I've seen your films. It makes a great difference for me as my impulses often lead to chaos and mess while structured thinking and seeing makes the painting process much more obvious to myself. Wisdom from experience, insight from practice - but still it's a long road ahead. Txs!

@ElleCoyote

3 жыл бұрын

I am working on abstracts and I use a different method. I plan the size, shape, and color scheme, and do some small paintings (4"x6") in which I experiment with the various elements. Then I choose the one(s) I really love, and make larger versions. No drawing per se, but thumbnails nevertheless.

@ElleCoyote

3 жыл бұрын

My alternate method is that I wipe off the paint from my brushes onto a big sheet of watercolor paper. When it is quite full of brush marks, I use various sizes of viewfinders to find interesting compositions in the randomness. It is magical and fascinating for me. I learned both of these techniques from other KZread artist demos.

@meganruchwatercolors7186

3 жыл бұрын

I do plan my paintings and I have an iPad pro with the the program procreate, so I draw and paint right on my iPad so i know exactly what colors I will be using when I paint on my canvas or wood panel. They are all high quality gallery wrapped and I paint with Golden acrylics but I really want to try oils they are luscious!!! Lol!

@jacomans9078

3 жыл бұрын

Ian, what I find is when I don’t have a plan....I end up reaching for my Gesso after about an hour, and painting over it,, I have been most successful looking at a photograph and getting my idea from it but not copying it, maybe the color scheme, or the arrangement or composition, and changing things...or I’ve “borrowed” from different photos and morphing them. I wish I could just take out my paints and just go for it...not in the cards.

"Movement throught the structure of the picture plane." THAT is GREAT!

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

9 ай бұрын

thanks so much

Finally I have got you as a model teacher. Thanks Mr Roberts for your sincere regards and instructions.

Your lectures are invaluable. All these ideas lead to the canvas. Don’t work issues out beforehand, things will fall apart.

I learn more from your 5-minute videos than I learned in art school! So valuable

This is the part of youtube i love the most : people talking passionately about their craft, that too for free. Keep up the great work with channel kind Sir!

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Spike. Glad you found my video. All the best.

It helped me understand movement through the picture plain. Thanks.

Thank You.... I appreciate your thinking process.

I think this is one of my favorite lessons. I have a particular photo that I'm going to work on, along with your video. I'll get it sketched in this week, then follow along with you next week on the painting. Thank you, Ian! Your instruction, as always, remains inspirational and motivating!

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Mary, always nice to hear from you. Good luck with your painting. Best wishes.

These videos are so helpful, I learn something new with every video. Drawing in the direction of the shapes, foreground vertically mid ground horizontally- that will help free me up at the easel. So true!!

Loving these little gems of information. This one was so valuable. I am always in a rush to get to the paint as I prefer that to drawing, but what you said made so much sense and what you teach here and in your book is spot on! If you don’t plan and know what you are going to do, nothing will help when you get half way through and are lost. I have been in that ugly place too many times so I am here to “ unlearn what I have learned”. Thank you!

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

I teach an online course on composition and I should use your statement above as the calling card quote! Perfect. "that ugly place". Delighted you are enjoying the videos.

@alisonhendry2928

3 жыл бұрын

@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition you may use anything you please. It is like being in that place as you paint and it feels like an unruly teenager. Ian Stewart said something like this in a demo he did at my watercolour society “ If you keep going that teenager eventually goes off to college and you like them when they return”, so keep going. But as you said, if you have not planned ( aka if you have not been a good parent and taught your child well) you will be in that ugly place.... not why we paint. We want to find the beauty, or the peace, or serene or drama... etc. Many many thanks for what you share. ( fellow Canadian living in the US btw. 😊)

Another winner - thank you for explaining about the cropping part, the movement of the light, and I really love the way you did your sketch!

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Joani. I'm glad you found that planning part helpful.

Thanks, Ian. You're helping me sharpen my analytical focus. Personally, I think people want to dive right in with putting paint to canvas because that's the fun part of painting. You get to play with all the pretty colors on your palette and you have visions in your mind's eye of a masterpiece springing to life under your favorite brush. Then reality sets in when part way through, your realize that something's not right and you're on the rough road to frustration and disappointment. A painting is built, just like a house or a deck, step by step beginning with a solid foundation. A builder doesn't just tear a picture out of a magazine, buy a load of lumber, and start hammering boards together. Planning and prep always comes first. Carefully done, it leads to success. If you just keep slapping paint on canvases, you'll only develop and reinforce bad habits resulting in stunted growth.

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Could not agree more!

I started with this approach and it worked wonders!!!

Jeeze - who needs color with a sketch like that? Beautifully done.

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Julia, you know that expression: color gets all the attention, but value does all the work.

Ian, this is my favorite video of all 53! I like the way you explain your design process as you crop the reference image. And I like the way you demonstrate that the sketch is the medium for working out the design of the value masses. You taught this in the 2011 workshop I attended in Texas and it dramatically improved my painting process. I enjoy doing the preparatory sketches as much as I do the painting. Thanks again for this teaching series in this format.

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Dale, nice to hear from you! I think you hit on it, that you need to enjoy the preparatory drawing process or it will always seem like a tangential bother, and you'll find excuses to skip it. All the best.

I watched your wyeth video and had the subject of this video in my mind as a question. How do i find and design with large value masses. And then i saw the title of this lesson!! Fabulous!! Thank you!

Thank you Ian. Your lessons are invaluable. I am learning so much from these videos and from your book Mastering Composition. I look forward to taking an in-person class with you when we get this virus under control.

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Jan, glad you are enjoying the videos and the book. I have been teaching online courses on drawing, brushwork and color all with a focus on composition now since April. It's been a great focus while covid's been with us. all the best.

Ian thank you so much I have found your videos so helpful full of information and inspiration.

As always, you help immensely in the thinking process of painting.

Thank you for the videos. I look forward to seeing the next one. I have learned so much. Your passion for your craft really comes through.

I really enjoy your teaching and explanations !! Thank you for sharing Ian !!

Ian, what an invaluable demo. I appreciate getting to listen to the decisions you make, and your reasons for making them. I hope to develop this ability as I paint more. It is very easy to paint a mediocre and even terrible painting, especially if one does not spend enough time thinking and planning before putting paint on the canvas.You are helping me learn so very much about the importance of the work, and the kind of work that should be done before you even pick up a paint brush. I look forward to your weekly mini-lessons and am learning so much from you. Thank you your sharing your time and your talents.

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

HI Laurel, well you certainly seem to be getting the idea (at least of what I am hoping people are picking up from the videos). Makes me happy. Good luck.

Great tutorial on the importance of a detailed sketch of shapes and values, Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!

I love your lessons, very insightful but most importly you share basic design elements that will give your paintings structure and harmony.

Really, Ian, I have learned a lot ! I usually carries my bruches filled with colors in a desorganize way move by emotions only !!!Structuress and masses values , yes and yes again ! Thank you for this great vdemo !

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Yes Christine, say it with me three times: structures and value masses. Well done.

Game changer! Saves so much time and frustration. Thanks Ian!

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Saves a lot of heart ache. Not every last piece of it, but a lot.

Thank you for confirming the need to set up a road map to a good painting. I actually draw better than I paint and the drawing part just solidifies what I want to do in my painting. It prevents me from going over painting areas and becoming frustrated with the painting process. Love all your videos. Thank you for sharing.

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Maria, you're lucky you draw better than you paint. Most people don't like drawing because they say their drawings look like "chicken scratches". And they just don't server a function. More a frustration. But it is so so helpful. Glad you are enjoying the videos.

One of your best videos...I can't wait to see the painting.

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Cathy. I thought the painting turned out pretty well actually. You'll see tomorrow. You can let me know what you think.

Thank you Ian. This a great video and yes, like you explained, it is essential to define a structure before painting. It is helpful and inspiring and changed my understanding of painting. I don't start a painting without doing this kind of preparation.

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Hannah, it is such an important step that the hunger to get brush to canvas can over rise. Oh I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing here and then, half way through...Glad you liked the video.

Great video as always Ian!!! Makes so much sense!!

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

HI Margaret, nice to hear from you. Glad you enjoyed the video.

nice work on the design and sketch. It looks like an interesting composition with the movement of light. Thank you, Ian!

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Svetlana. Well I think it looks interesting at this point too. I'll be painting it tomorrow so I hope it looks as interesting as a painting!

Thank you so much for this Ian !

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

My pleasure Joey

Very helpful, thank you!

Thank you Ian!

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

My pleasure!

Thank you for all your videos Robert. I have lived in Brittany for five years and am reading about the work of the Nabis artists. Some of the paintings by Emile Bernard and Sérusier illustrate perfectly your teaching about shape and colour.

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Hi TIm, I think it was Bernard that had that famous quote, that before a painting was a battle horse or an angel it was just color shapes on a 2-d surface. Paraphrased but that was the gist. And to your point it is what I am teaching.

I meant Ian of course!!

What a good idea to flip it Ian.

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

That was from the days of using slides where it was really easy.

@lanaschuster7630

3 жыл бұрын

@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition even easier now, some days I love computers

Thank you

Your videos are so insightful and the drawings beautifully crafted. Are they for sale?

love thumbnails, sometimes I attach them to the back of the painting!

thanks for your video!

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

You are welcome. Glad you liked it.

I plan paintings with thumbnails etc but also enjoy doing small studies in a more spontaneous fashion, not least because I am still learning technique. I often forget to flip the image so thank you for reminding me.

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Eddie, I used to flip slides to see which side looked more interesting. Of course now it is just as easy with the horizontal flip.

I do plan my paintings; however, I'm new at plein air. When out, I try to do sketches; the light is gone by the time I start painting. So, I've started sketching on the canvas. It's going to take a lot of practice! --KateColors

Thank you again Ian for a very informative video , watching you demonstrating how to crop etc has helped me to try and do the same and I am having some success . Please one week would you do another urban scene , I know you did one a few weeks ago but I think they are more complicated to crop and change than a landscape with so much going on in them . Many thanks

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Judy, I'll see if I can dig up an image for a street scene. Maybe a French village or something. Best, Ian

@judyfranklin9577

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Ian thank you I would like that , your videos are so helpful . My problem was what to crop in a famous view I have just painted , Do you leave bits out or not in the painting and then have the viewer tell you that you have missed a bit ? Thank you again for all your constructive advise I am loving Tuesdays when your latest video arrives .! Keep safe and well !

This is not only a painting process, it's philosophy. For me at least. Tks

Hi Ian thank you very much for all these fine demonstration , as some would say , you rock! I havent found anything about what pencil do you use for the sketches for example in this demonstration, could you let me know please , thank you. Boris

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

HI Boris, glad you are enjoying the videos. I use a Blackwing Matte pencil. It doesn't have hardness number but is like a 4B.

@BorisHuguenel

3 жыл бұрын

@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition thank you I've downloaded one of your videos (paint from a picture) great stuff, thank you

I am learning to draw before painting . I do pencil sketches. Sometimes do sketches in black watercolor ink.Thank you very much sir....from India (13 hrs 30 mins time difference)

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Meena, delighted you are trying out the idea of planning before painting. All the best from LA. The videos must come out in the evening for you.

These are four value sketches? Are your brush strokes going to follow your directional pencil marks? Thank you ! Love your drawings

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Are saying my drawings are made with 4 values? I didn't get the first sentence. That is probably true, but I wasn't thinking about it really. This week I'll address that idea of the brushmarks following the same direction as the pencil marks. Not exactly but you are on to something for sure.

As you were filling in the bottom left corner of the sketch, I thought about -- What if you were to vignette the scene? I am trying to figure out in watercolor the use of vignette as a design choice. (I haven't figured it out yet.) Is this done in oil paintings, or mainly in less formal images?

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Ralph, when I think of composition I think of how the elements fit in a rectangle. A snug, well orchestrated whole. With a vignette you eliminate that need really. To me a vignette is really a study, a consideration of something without having to burden that study with the need to also work as a composition. Sure a vignette can be a great painting, but as a study of something quite specific rather than as a compositional whole. I hope that makes sense. Not a value judgement, just a thought on their two uses.

@BibleStudyPastor

3 жыл бұрын

@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition Thanks, that's helpful.

Would you explain your color choice as well as your thinking behind your color mixtures. Thank you.

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Brigette, I'll try. When I'm doing the painting I don't talk. And when I do the voice over it's hard to say the names of the colors as fast as I pick them up on the brush. But this week I will talk about creating warm and cool color contrast for the sense that there is evening light hitting the landscape.

It’s funny that you brought this point up of how long it takes you to prepare to paint the painting. People often ask how long it took to paint a particular painting. I want to say a lifetime. Because even if I only put a few hours into the painting I probably spent many more hours planning it. I may have visited the place, taken photos, perhaps started the painting on location or completed a field painting. Many times I have painted a more detailed version in the studio. If you are having a heart attack and a surgeon cracks your chest and quickly repairs your broken valve, do you get a discount because he did it quickly. Or are you thrilled that he spent many years learning his skill with a great result? Just being silly. But planning does pay off.

Hi, Ian. I've been doing my value thumbnails with a black watercolor pencil. They go a bit faster and you can make nice easy gradations in tone. In case you haven't done this, it's drawing and painting both but to me it's thrilling cuz it's both drawing and painting....you might try it....

@IanRobertsMasteringComposition

3 жыл бұрын

I like watercolor pencils as a sketch medium. I don't use them for my thumbnails I want a lot of control for that. And like all watercolor you sort of have to go with the flow a lot and so I don't use them for the thumbnails. But that's just me.

@gentleyogaforanybody1520

3 жыл бұрын

@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition thanks so much for your lessons. I haven't learned this much since working on my fine arts degree in college. I appreciate it!

How do I find the following week video from this one? I can't stop watching!

@sandraworrall-hart3840

3 жыл бұрын

Click on Ian Roberts at the top of the page, then click on 'videos' and all are there in date order. You can also find a link at the top of this page where you can subscribe to get weekly notifications by email. Hope this is helpful.

Any action which is not properly planned ends in a semi-disaster :) So, starting brushing away with no fundamentals is not of much use.