Friday, February 26, 2016

Drawing koi - WIP


There are two schools of thought on creating an under drawing before painting.

The first school is that the creation of a drawn guide for paint placement is essential for accuracy. 

The second school of thought is that an under drawing isn't necessary and may even impede freedom of expression.

I'm firmly in the first school of thought, having been trained in classical drawing and painting and feel that these have benefited me to observe and translate shapes and values accurately.


I usually work out colours and composition with a little study prior to painting and find that it helps a lot in problem solving.  The study is in oils in a sketchbook.  I use whatever surface that happens to be handy for most of my studies as I don't care if they find their way into the future or not.  For me, they are working tools only, not precious pieces.

My current painting on the easel is a bit ambitious in complexity.  Its worthwhile throwing a challenge at yourself now and then to push outside the comfort zone and make yourself sit up and pay attention.  I've drawn it freehand as I do with nearly all my work.  The top right hand side has been altered just a little to reduce the size of the fish as its out of proportion with the others.

I created a speeded up clip of some of the drawing process.  I'm busy fighting with the learning curve for a new video editing program and this video is not fabulous quality, but you can see a little of my thought process as I draw perhaps.



The painting is 24" x 24" on gessoed masonite.  I like this surface more and more for painting.

6 comments:

Billie Crain said...

Always enjoy seeing you at work, Jeanette. I can see how your frequent sketching is serving you well here. Are you going to paint this with a palette knife? If so, wow!! Even if you're not...wow, this looks very challenging.

Jeanette Jobson said...

Thanks Billie. Practice really is the key to keeping that hand/eye coordination good for drawing.

Yes, I paint pretty much everything with a palette knife these days and this one will be no exception. There are a lot of shapes in this, but fish by fish, it will come together.

Jennifer Rose said...

do you know how many fish are in it?

Jeanette Jobson said...

I have no idea Jen, I didn't count, I just drew til I ran out of space. :)

Unknown said...

This is a very interesting post Jeanette and I look forward to seeing the final painting. I'm also curious to know how many fish there are.

Sorry I haven't been by often this year, I'm trying to cut down some areas of computer time. Blog visits are scheduled on Sunday's IF other things have been finished first.

Jeanette Jobson said...

Hi Sue

Its difficult to fit everything in, I know this well and its wise to monitor activities and prioritize.

The fish are a little outside my normal subject but fun to do. I'm sure someone will count them eventually, but it likely won't be me! :)