Week 2…
Value, Scale, Indirect Painting and Being Self-Critical
Week 2 of the Mastery Program consisted of two completely contrasting moods.
Value and scale was this week’s drawing task, and I just so happened to be going on a short trip to Avignon, France.
Taking drawing materials with me was a game changer. I sketched a beautiful set of pears whilst sitting in the flourishing botanical garden of my Airbnb.
It was so easy to stay inspired while listening to the birds sing and the sun on my back.
(Don’t take my word for it, you can see a cute video of my little set-up for yourself here 🥰)
I was really happy with the outcome of these but to be honest, copying fruit in pencil is something I had practised many times before, so it wasn’t very challenging for me.
But later in the week at home when I then tackled my second-ever oil painting, I was left disheartened.
I was still in this perfectionist mindset, and after the successful outcome of my ‘Beautiful Weirdo’ painting, I was putting way too much pressure on myself to create the perfect painting again.
The painting task was another traditional method called ‘Indirect Painting’. For this task, I painted a Tulip field in front of a beautiful sunset.
A quick run-down on the technique:
I started with roughly blocking in super radiant colours, mapping out the shapes of the landscape.
Next, when completely dry, I added a ground over the whole painting. For the ground I mixed a deep purple in transparent paints that matched the darkest colour I could find in the source.
Then using subtraction tools, I slowly removed the paint to reveal the underpainting and tried to emulate the visual textures I could see in my composition.
This method was very similar to last week, but rather than a monochromatic look, I was left with ‘radiant’ colours coming through so I could already see the final composition coming together.
Finally, once this was dry, I added the midtones and highlights with opaque paints, making sure to use as many tools as I could to capture the interesting textures in the mountains and the flowers.
(When you check out the final artwork later you will see some of the gorgeous textures I managed to create with palette knives 😍)
The reason this way of painting was challenging for me…
In this part of the course, all of the methods are intended to show us how to paint in layers and stop expecting the painting to look exactly as we want, all the way through.
But this does not suit my self-critical mindset!
Was that mark accurate enough? Does it look like the source? But tulips don’t look like that… and the mountains aren’t blurry enough… Is that orange to bright? You don’t have a clue how to use a palette knife, what on earth are you doing?
I literally thought my way into hating this painting.
I was ignoring the point, getting frustrated with every step because it was uncomfortable and I managed to convince myself that what I created was terrible.
I planned to leave it for a while, do some other paintings and come back to it to ‘fix it’ another time.
It wasn’t until I actually forgot about the painting, got on with a few other projects and accidentally found it again when moving house that I really looked at it again.
The painting looked so different.
It wasn’t terrible anymore.
I could see beautiful textured flowers in the distance, created with delicate palette knife strokes. I could see glowing cadmium red tulips, dusted with oranges and yellows of the sunset’s reflection. I could see brilliant blooms standing proud in rich and juicy hues, and a fire in the horizon.
This wasn’t an ugly painting.
I was just caught up in being so self-critical that I couldn’t see the beauty in the artwork.
I’ve learned from this.
Now, whenever I’m having a bad day working on my business and fall into the trap of putting myself down or questioning my abilities, I try and remember this lovely message a fellow creative told me when I first quit my 9-5:
“I hope you have the best time and are super kind to yourself whilst doing it!”
I do forget from time to time… but I am better than I was. Maybe I should write these words out and stick them on my bathroom mirror!
She really did have a point.
What is the point in following your passion if you are not going to allow yourself to enjoy the process?
You’re so busy doubting yourself while so many others are inspired by your potential.
Sometimes it’s the smallest moments or the briefest of conversations that mean the most 🥰
I wonder if she knew the quality of that advice she gave me at the time - thank you, Pippa.
“Spring at Sundown” 16x20 - original oil painting on canvas
‘As the sun kisses the horizon, it ignites a fervent fire within, casting silhouettes long and proud. We too, can bloom brilliantly in the face of adversity.’
She’s available, or maybe an art print is more suited to you! 🥰
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