JOHN EDWARDS CRITIQUE EVENING
John has been teaching for 38 years to a wide range of age
groups and abilities. He tries to give positive criticism - " by picking
out the good bits and trying to make them better."
He gave the following suggestions and advice :-
Colour balance and
tonal balance prevent a one-sided picture. Dark colours on one side pull the
attention to that side therefore balance the picture with a dark colour on the
other side.
There should be a good tonal range in the picture -"put
in the lights and the darks will take care of themselves" Try working in
units of three in colour and tone - dark, mid, light. (Van Gogh was good at
this using for example deep blue and yellow)
The direction of light and shadow should be strongly shown.
Shadows at the base of subjects such as trees or animals and shadows on the
ground should be obvious.
Emphasise dark against light and opposite.
A painting needs a base so should be light at the top and
darker in the foreground.
To get depth into the picture put blue-grey in the
background (Monet did this with blue leaves) or cross subjects such as tree
trunks or rocks. Trees should show recession and backgrounds have little
detail. To bring the subject out from the background put dark lines of a
contrasting colour around it( Piper and Sutherland did this with buildings)
White produces highlights and, as with red, draws attention.
Green is a difficult colour so use as many varieties as possible.
When painting portraits the eyes and nose must point in the
same direction. Fur and hair can have colours within the main colour eg. purple
or blue. Whiskers should not be overstated and look like wire. Cat's eyes can
be a problem as they can be over bright - draw the overall shape first. The
neck must fade into the background and not be cut off suddenly. The space
around a portrait must be carefully balanced - not be cropped too closely or
badly balanced. Try to get the subject's character in the painting.
In seascapes make sure that waves are not solid. They become
more horizontal away from the land and also smaller and less in number.
Spattering adds texture.
Put movement into people and animals in landscapes.
What you leave out in
watercolour makes the picture. Use acrylic ink for white.
Always do thin build -ups of colour especially with acrylic
which can look very synthetic and artificial if applied too thickly at once.
White added to a colour in oils or acrylic tends to deaden it.
A simple part of a painting has to be correct but mistakes
can be hidden in complexity.
When painting from photographs don't make an exact copy e.g.
if there is a tree in the centre put it to one side.
Make sure that white
frames don't clash with white in the picture - grey may be better.
Draw with your brush.
This was perhaps the most helpful and informative evening we
have had and are grateful to John for spending the time with us - hopefully he
will come again!
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| Some constructive criticism |
