October 10, 2009

minimal brushstrokes




(340)The challenge involved in these studies is the use of minimal brushstrokes. Colors are mixed beforehand; each brushstroke and color change is planned. Every time the brush is lifted from the canvas counts as one brushstroke, so loading the brush with as much paint as possible, is key. It is possible to do an entire painting in 30 strokes or less. (Oh yes it is). The brushstrokes are counted with spots of color on the bottom of the painting. I painted the model at the workshop but did the other two exercises after I got home because it is THE MOST FUN exercise ever. If you have never tried it, you must! It can be a great "warm-up" exercise, but most of all, it teaches you to really see your subject and count/plan how many different color/value changes (large and small) you will need.
"Many of the most powerful paintings have the simplest value structures. That is to say, they only use two, three, or four major values"...Barry John Raybould

8 comments:

Gwen Bell said...

How fun! Sounds challenging but you did an excellent job on all 3. I particularly like the figure. Lots of energy there. Amazed that you could get that much feeling from such a minimalist approach!

Tracy Wall said...

What a great lesson!!

Marian Fortunati said...

Gosh I admire you, Faye!!

FCP said...

Thanks Gwen and Tracy!
And Marian--there's nothing to admire here, I'm just playing with the paint.
Faye

Carolina said...

Thanks for sharing all this along these posts, I'm learning a lot!
Best regards,
Carolina

Diane said...

I love your instructional posts... they are helping me ..

Bonnie Luria said...

Even before I knew this was a Peggi workshop, I looked at your studies here and thought, " gee, they remind me of Peggi Kroll Roberts".
You surely absorbed all of your lessons and I'm delighted that you shared your findings here on your blog.

This looks like the perfect way to break out of a dead zone and reach a better understanding of color and value.

I've long admired the freedom and believability of Peggis' paintings.

You've brought so much of that to yours- having a look back at previous posts.
I especially like the two women on the bench.

Kelley Carey MacDonald said...

Good for you, I loved this exercise in Peggi's class. You're doing a great job!