Art by Michael Bull: September 2015

It took years for me - without the benefit of experience - to figure this stuff out for myself. Perhaps this may be of help to others who fancy giving painting a go. (Warning: It is addictive :)

Basics for a Painting

Michael Bull – June 2010

The four factors which most affect the end quality of a painting are:

1. Colour – colours in a work can be complimentary to each other or not. Where possible use complimentary colours. Examples are blue/orange, violet/yellow, green/red. White is the brightest colour in a painting and is often used as highlight on other colours.

2. Contrast – contrast is the combination of dark and light in a picture. There can be no light in a painting without the contrasting dark area. Always plan for a dark area to bring up light in another area. Contrast is the most important of these four factors.

3. Texture – texture is the combination of rough and smooth, shiny and dull etc. These are a different form of contrast and can often be used to enhance.

4. Drama – drama is a concept which is also related to contrast, and in a landscape might be considered the 'wow' factor, or it may relate to the subject in a painting containing animals or people. It enhances the focus of the painting and is the emotional part of a work.

The Canvas – divide the canvas into thirds horizontally and thirds vertically. The top horizontal area would normally be background (or sky), the centre the mid-ground, and the lower the foreground. The vertical divisions are a guide to maintaining a balance of the subject matter and avoid crowding one side or the other. The focus of the picture is normally within the centre square, but avoid putting the focus exactly in the centre of the centre square.

Colour Mixing – If you add white to a colour it becomes a tint of that colour. If you add black it becomes a shade of that colour. The primary colours from which all others can be mixed are white, black, red, yellow and blue. For example, red+blue = purple, blue+yellow = green, red+yellow = orange, red+green = brown, white+black = grey. All of these can then have many different tints or shades.

Where to Start – You need to paint a picture in your mind before you brush a stroke. This may take days, while the painting itself may only take hours. Be aware that the painting rarely turns out exactly as you had in your mind. Photographs are useful to refer to for detail which you may forget, such as the colour and shape of hills or vegetation or people or animals. Photos normally do not have that 'wow' factor you need in a painting and once you have used the photo for details, put it aside and concentrate on what is right for the painting. Simplicity in a painting is often very effective in enhancing the end result if the four factors are present.

After you have planned your painting often it is appropriate to put in a basic colour backwash to which you later add more layers or details. For example, a blue where the sky is to be to which you may later add cloud, red/ brown/orange/yellow for earth, green for grass or forest areas etc. When the backwash has dried then start on your detail. Some people find it helpful to add the dark areas first and work through to the detail and main subject. Painting from the distant to the close saves having to repaint areas or getting overlaps wrong. When detail has been added, use an appropriate colour for shadow (often a shade of the colour where the shadow falls) then finally add the highlights to the subject ( it may be a dab of white on the top of the hair or clothes for example) to bring up the light in the picture.

Expect a lot of failures when you start painting, you need them to learn as you go. Look to see if all the above four factors are present. Chances are that they are not all there in a failure. Every painting you do, success or failure, will teach you something. If you are lucky enough to find a constructive critic it will help accelerate your learning process. If you never start you'll never know.

Which Paint Type? – Oils, acrylics and water colour all require different approaches. Oils take a long time to dry and need a turps solvent. Messy. Acrylics look like oils when dry, dry quickly, have water as solvent, and are relatively inexpensive. They are probably the best for beginners. Water colours are normally used with paper rather than canvas, and therefore require framing. You choose.

Here are some examples to help understand the above from my own work:

A classic example of the power of Contrast in this painting called "the Grounding".

It also contains the Drama, which relates to the Contrast but the danger present in the scene is the Drama. Obviously there are different textures throughout, but no Colour beyond light and dark. It works well without Colour.

This one, called "On a Wing and a Prayer" - the birth of QANTAS - uses Colour as its main impact, but the other qualities are also present. The Contrast of light and dark on the aeroplane highlights it, while the red of the earth contrasts with it also. A very simple but effective painting.