Painting in Layers

So this was going to be a post about painting oils in layers, with a look at a fairly dramatic improvement between a simple painting done in one sitting and then the improvement made several weeks later when revisiting the painting and adding a second layer.

Which would have been great, except for the fact that I was apparently so underwhelmed by the initial painting that I never bothered to take a picture of it.

Which makes the before-and-after just an "after." So here's the after:

Cart Path (oils, 9 by 12 stretched canvas)

What I would say about the one-layer original painting is that it was simple and dull. The greens of the tree line in the distance were too similar in tone to the trees in the left foreground. The cart path had become too greenish considering that the whole painting is green. The stream didn't exist, and the flower patch in the lower right foreground was just some grassy vertical stripes of similarly toned green (it wasn't a flower patch). Again, too monochromatic, given that this wasn't a tonalist painting. Tonalism and "bleh" aren't the same thing.

The original painting was a simple study loosely copying an Isaac Levitan work. It was basic. Looking at it with a critical eye, in order to be a "painting" and not a study sketch, it would need something to add interest and to balance out the composition. The monochromatic green issue would need to be mitigated a bit as well.

Without being able to see the before and after, the changes made in the second layer were as follows. A small stream was added in the lower right quadrant to add interest and balance out the weight of darker values that were concentrated in the upper left. The distant tree line, always intended to be in brighter light, was highlighted with lighter greens, while remaining a little less saturated (in other words, they are a paler whitish-green rather than a highly saturated yellowy-green). This brightens the tree line up while keeping it pushed into the distance. The dark mass of shaded trees on the left were detailed a bit by adding some blue sky holes along the top edge and punching some light yellow-green highlights through the midsection on the mid-right edge of the tree cluster. This hopefully gives the impression that there is sky through the trees, and you can also get a peek at the sun-washed grassy fields through the trees. The patch of tall grass in the lower right corner was turned into a flower patch by adding clumps of yellowish-white.

The intent of all of this was to create a more complex composition, with a number of different areas of focus to draw the eye. The brightened-up cart path should lead the eye up and back to the point where it vanishes into the darker gap in the distant tree line. The stream should capture interest (people like water!), and the flower patch should pull the eye down and to the right with its little pops of brightness in an otherwise still mostly green painting. Lastly, the bright area of sunlit grass in the left midground should make the viewer's eye want to go up and around the patch of trees on the left, so as to see what is hiding around that corner...

The end result of all this is that this little 9 by 12 painting has gone from one where every time I look at it I think "something's missing" to one where I look at it and say "it's not perfect but I like it." And that's worth a lot.

From a selfish standpoint, writing this blog entry helps me prove to myself that I am developing a better eye with regards to being able to critically and effectively review and assess what I am looking at in my own work. There remains the issue of ability to execute versus intent, but that is just practice.

The most important lesson though, I think, is the affirmation that there is nothing magical or heroic in being able to create a finished oil painting in one sitting (alla prima) wet-on-wet. Oils with their long drying time are still intended to be painted in layers. The first layer of this was nothing special. It was left aside for weeks, drying thoroughly in that time, before I decided to come back and try to "fix" it. I will admit to painting the stream in several short sittings while tweaking it and trying to get it right, effectively painting wet-on-wet in a second layer while the first layer remained dry and stable underneath.

Live and learn. Or live and reinforce what you know but perhaps don't completely believe yet. The outcome is what matters and not the process in getting there. In one layer this was a boring monotone sketch. With thoughtful assessment and rework, it has become something that I am kinda proud of.

So, note to self: paint oils in layers because it works.

Lastly...A running joke in our house with regards specifically to modern art is "I could do that" with a response of "yeah, but you didn't."

My art isn't great. I freely admit that. I am still on the steep initial part of the learning curve, and I aspire to be better. But at least I did it.