Craig talked about how painting is drawing. Painting is about shape, drawing is about line….. but you draw just as much while you paint. They're not mutually exclusive.
We have to always be thinking about:
- proportion (measurements and relationships)
- gesture (angles)
- foreshortening
- drawing
We worked on establishing a strong 2-Value Statement. Nothing boldly new to me…. but how he did it was s simplified….. amazing!
Find the lightest light, the darkest dark, and the most colorful color. If the most colorful is either the lightest or the darkest, change one of them, so you have three areas to work on. Then, start with the shadow block in of all three areas. Then find the light sides in relation to their respective darks, and in relation to the other light areas.
Don't worry about colors…. focus on values. Colors will come later.
Always leave room to go lighter or darker in every areas. That's where you get the depth in the painting.
Dark colors will naturally have less contrast between the shadow and light side. So simply block in the area as a unified shape. Don't worry about finding that subtle balance. The focal point will usually have more contrast anyway. But for dark colors (especially blacks), it's the shape that describes everything. The posture, the movement…. it's all int he shape.
