Monday, November 1, 2010

Session 3 with Thomas Kitts





  • Working with a toned canvas, toned to the common denominator midtone of the composition
  • Decide on center of interest and work it up a bit before working up surrounding areas
  • Notice and paint value and temperature, with special emphasis on darkest darks, lightest lights
  • Manage the amount of paint I apply, from slurry underpainting to dry brush to juicy
  • Always be willing to correct drawing errors
  • Application of practiced variety in brushwork
  • Discussion of composition decisions and effects
Sometimes a learning lesson isn't so much about the final result, but about the process and what I learned along the way. I'm still excited about oil painting and eager to learn more and to do better. Thomas gave me a thumbs up for my brushwork painting (previous post) and some more homework for the two weeks between today and our next meeting.

The wooden mask in this still life came from Japan, where Thomas' father got it in WWII. A non-face face to work with, so interesting! Can you tell from my painting that my center of interest was the left eye?

2 comments:

Celeste Bergin said...

Hey, cool run down of your lesson! Yes, I can tell the "center of interest" is the eye. It is interesting to see the set up still life too--looks like you did a good job with both shapes and temperature. Bravo!

Unknown said...

My monitor shows this painting much cooler than in real life. It's a good lookin painting and the placement of subject on format and where we are directed to look is perfect.