If you follow my posts you know that I’m a pen driver. I draw a bunch of lines, hope they look like something and then, if I want to add color, I generally just ‘fill in’ the various pieces, using watercolors like crayons.
But I thought it was time to do a “painting.” I’m not really sure when a sketch becomes a painting or whether you have to approach things very differently to create a painting. Seems to me like it’s more the later than former so that’s what I did….that different thing.
We’d just gotten some snow and I was out walking, saw a “winter scene” to my liking and took a quick snapshot of it. When I got home I took a 5×7 sheet of Fabriano Artistico “Extra White” cold press paper, and I made a few marks to indicate a horizon and the verticals for my fire hydrant. Ya gotta have fire hydrants in paintings don’t you? I do.
Then, with considerable intrepidation, I started applying paint roughing out the tree and hydrant in light color. Once I knew their ultimate shape I increased the color until it was mostly as you see it here. Then I added a bit of ink just to emphasize things a bit. I don’t know if this is an example of my demonstrating a willingness to learn new tricks or that I have no shame in posting my first painting. Either way, here it is.
This is a painting. I like the use of bright colors against the light background. Red and green are very christmasy.
It’s great, Larry — but I guess I’m not sure what makes this a “painting” while the other thing you described is a sketch. Is it that the painting had fewer guidelines before the paint was applied? That you used a photo instead of doing it on location? A lot of people do what you did here, but they call it sketching. As I see more and more urban “sketches” framed and hung on gallery walls (I went to two excellent shows of such sketches a couple months ago), I’m less and less sure I understand the difference. (Not that I really care, in terms of trying to”define” it, but it’s an interesting question.)
– Tina
Tina, I’m not the guy to explain it. These ‘names’ never made any sense to me. Seems that they should but people like you and I have screwed up the traditional definition of sketch so I don’t feel I can cast stones at anyone else .
But, as I said in my second paragraph, for me the difference is in emphasis. I’ve done hundreds of ‘sketches.’ Each time I’ve done them with a pen. When they were _finished_ I decided whether I was going to add color and if the answer was yes, I’d add some color. This “painting” was done not only with color in mind, but with few pen lines drawn at all before I started applying paint. Most of the minimal ink work done was done after the watercolors had been done…thus…a painting.
But I’m with you. The stuff I see labelled “sketch” really stretches any of the common notions beyond the breaking point. But isn’t it great that “sketch” has become so kewl that people want to label their art that way even if they’re spending hours on the piece?
Cheers — Larry