Day 28 - Don't Concave In
It is 9 degrees outside and I will be going out to paint at Sears Island today. Crazy, I know but it will be sunny.
So this morning I did this quick study for the Leslie Saeta 30 day challenge.
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| Convex lines |
I have been reading John Carlson's book "Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting" as recommended by Stapleton Kearns at snow camp last week. There is a section where Carlson talks about convex lines. He says, " Try to feel that almost all natural, growing forms are convex lines rather than concave"
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| bulging earth forms |
Carlson goes on to say that "All earth forms bulge up." This of course is not a natural law but an observation from an artist. (One of the best landscape painters of the last century).
So, that is what I tried to keep in mind in this little study.
This is an old brick farmhouse about a few miles from where I live. I could spend years painting it.
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| even the grass is convex |
Carlson says that concavity creates a "hanging line" and unless there is some outstanding artistic reason for using it , don't, stick with convex. Even my brushwork for the grassy slope is full of convex strokes.
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| Neighbors 5"x7" |
This one will end up being painted on a larger scale.
1 comment:
I heard the same advice about convex forms when I took figure drawing/anatomy in art school: there are only convex forms in the human body, no concave. Interesting to hear that it also applies to the landscape!
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