Painting 101: Seeing Shapes, Not "Things"

07/30/2009

I'm noticing more and more in my own work that bad art results from trying to paint "things." The idea of looking at objects or a landscape or a still life arrangement and seeing it as a combination of shapes or planes formed by color, value, line, and texture, is a very basic concept that forever changed the way I look at the world.

But consistently doing this while you're painting or drawing is easier said than done...

When I struggle most with a painting, and I'm just now beginning to realize this (again), it's when I try too hard to give the shapes on my surface a name: Person, Cloud, Apple, Tree, Building, Flower, etc...

I've spent days working on some really bad paintings this summer. Lately I think I've had more success with some (not all) of the miniature-sized paintings because it's next to impossible to get bogged down in details when you're working in that size. Maybe when I'm feeling a little more confident in my work, I'll post some of those awful paintings for you!

What do you think? If you're an artist, does working in a small size help you with your larger work? Do you work in different sized surfaces on purpose in order to learn and grow? If so, what have you learned?

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