Page 71 - International Artist2 110

STAGE 3
ESTABLISH LOCAL COLOUR
I now establish the local color of each
area. Squinting my eyes helps to reduce
the complexity of the subject and I avoid
looking at details at this stage. I want to
see only the main local colors and block
these in as shapes. Small transitional colors,
details and color corrections with glazes and
scumbling are reserved for the later stages.
I do, however, try to pay careful attention
to the characteristics of color, which include
chroma, temperature and, of course, value.
In other words, how bright or intense is the
color (brick red or candy apple)?; how warm
or cool is it compared to the color it is next
to?; and, most importantly, how dark or
light is it compared to the value beside it?
Let this layer dry well.

STAGE 4 TRANSITIONS AND EDGES
This is a good time to carefully observe edges, and
for this I again squint and try to search for “lost edges.” ABOUT THE ARTIST
That is, where does one area become indistinguishable
from another. Often it is in the background or in the
shadows. Where are the hardest/sharpest edges?
These edges are very clean areas of distinction
between values and often will draw the viewer’s eye,
so be careful to consider the effect on composition.
Now is the stage where I begin to consider
transitions—those colors that are subtle and perhaps
small areas between large color sections and also even
within them. Using only linseed oil with no OMS and
still using very little medium and painting very thinly,
I crawl across the painting observing the nuances
within and between the original shapes with my eyes
open now allowing myself to see many of the subtleties
I had tried to eliminate in the first passes by squinting.

70
70 www.InternationalArtist.com

Laura Thompson_Demo.indd 70 6/16/16 6:08 PM