A Proven Strategy for Creating Great Art by Dan McCaw

"Roses for Sale", Oil on Canvas, 22x18"

A great book. I recently posted about my two favorite books that I took with me to Arizona. I have been re-reading them and have come to appreciate them even more. Especially this one.

Here are a few notable points to remember at the end of each chapter:

Chapter One, "Opening Your Heart"

• Creating expressive art demands more than just rendering. It requires you to develop and give voice to your points of view.
• Individuality comes from having plenty of options. You can increase your choices by broadening your perceptions, raising your awareness and exercising your imagination.
• You probably won't be successful in expressing your individuality in every painting, but don't let that stop you from trying. Your ongoing efforts to express yourself will keep you motivated for a lifetime. Trust in your innate ability to bring out your voice.

My thoughts - I'm surprised he put this topic at the beginning of the book. It is the last thing I learned and was confusing to me when I first read the book. Now with a lot more experience under my belt, I know what he's talking about.

At first we are doing our best to "render", but with experience comes the ability to "exercise our imaginations". 

The best thing to remember while learning this concept is to let go of the outcome and just experiment with paint. Know why you chose your topic, and try to express that concept. It will come.

Chapter Two,  "Understanding Light and Form"

• Three things in the light source -- color, strength and location -- will influence the way you perceive the forms in your subject.
• To make the forms in your paintings look three dimensional, exaggerate the planes and push the contrast between light and shadow.
• If you do want to recreate depth and dimension in your forms, visualize and break them up into planes. The planes on the light side can be categorized as lights, half tones, and highlights, also known as the properties of light: the planes on the shadow side can be categorized as reflected lights and shadows, what I call the properties of shadow.
• Remember to incorporate the color of your light source and any reflected color from nearby objects when mixing your forms' colors.

My thoughts - We all use different words at times to describe the same foundational elements in painting. When he says location of the light, he is talking about the direction of the light into the painting. 

You need to understand how light and shadows work in life and in your painting. It really does help to break your form into planes. It's like carving of the rounded parts with a knife. Each plane has it's own value, but is also either in the "light", or the "shadow". The values in the light are usually mid-tone, light-tone and highlights. The values in the shadow side of the form is mid-dark to dark, and reflected light that is slightly lighter than the shadow.

The color of your light source is either warm or cool. Ambient light is warmer than outdoor light. Use plenty of color in your reflected light, but remember to keep it "in the shadow".

Chapter Three, "Designing With Shapes"

• Value and design are the two most important tools in holding a painting together.
• Design is based on the large masses or shapes in your subject, which you can easily see when you squint. Squinting eliminates the details and show you the big areas of similar values.
• Drawing quick thumbnails and/or painting value studies will help you modify, link, crop and balance your shapes for a better design that supports your intentions.
• Unequal proportions is key to a good design. Have more dark than light or more light than dark. Play active areas against passive areas.
• You can modify several elements into one larger shape by softening the edges between them or painting them in similar values so the edges seem to disappear. Use harder edges to separate shapes. This will help you retain the flow of your design.

My thoughts - This covers a lot in painting. And we've only talked about one chapter! I've been teaching these concepts for years, and I can't believe I haven't picked up this book for at least that long. This is very good stuff.

These are the first three chapters and we still have three to go. I will cover those in the next blog that I post. Meanwhile do reply with any questions or if you'd like to talk further about any of these topics.