Design and Art Principles WorkshopKingslan & Gibilisco Seminars, 4670 Hickory St, Omaha, NE 68106 © 1997-98Page 59

Is it necessary to plan a painting in careful detail before you start,or should you let it evolve as you go along? Planning a paintingcan be a help as you know exactly what you’re going to do, but itcould also inhibit spontaneity. Letting a painting evolve as youwork is very free and lets you be spontaneous, but also leavesyou open to the possibility that the painting won’t go anywhereand you’ll end up with a mess.

Ultimately the degree to which you plan out a painting dependson your personality, some people find it essential and others ahindrance. But regardless of how detailed you like to plan (or not),there are several decisions that have to be made before you tostart to paint.

1. Decide On a SubjectDeciding on a subject is the logical first step as it influences theformat of the support, the type of support used, and the tech-nique you’re going to use to create the painting. If you’ve only avague idea of what to do with an appealing subject, such as aglorious landscape, sketching or doing small studies rather than afull painting will enable you to see whether the composition andselection of elements works well without wasting time or materials.A pleasing study can then be used as the basis or reference for afull-scale painting.

But if you find that doing a study makes you stiffen up when youcome to do the large-scale painting because you’re focusing onreplicating it, rather than it reminding you sufficiently of theoriginal scene, consider doing only quick sketches to see if acomposition works and taking reference photos to work from backin your studio.

2. Decide On the FormatHaving decided on a subject, you need to decide what the bestformat for the support is, whether it should be landscape orportrait, or perhaps square. What shape of the canvas will bestsuit the subject matter? For example, a very long and thin canvasused in adds a sense of drama to a landscape, especially one of awide-open space.

3. Decide On the SizeThe size the support will be should also be a conscious decision.A painting shouldn’t be a particular size simply because that’s thesize of the sheet of paper you have. If you buy primed andstretched canvases, have several in various sizes to hand soyou’ve a choice. Think about how the subject would look if itwere painted small, or perhaps very large. Are you going to worklifesize or oversized? For example, portraits which are oversizedare very dramatic.

4. Decide On a Medium and TechniqueIf you only ever use one medium then you don’t have to decidewhich one you think is best for this particular subject. But whatabout the technique you’re going to use? For example, if you useacrylics, are you going to use them thickly or thinly, like watercol-ors, are you going to use retarders to slow down the drying time?If you use watercolors, are you going to use masking fluid to keepareas white?

5. Decide On the Type of SupportAre you going to paint on canvas, primed hardboard, or paper?Will it be a canvas with a fine weave, such as linen, or a coarseweave that will show through? Will it be a smooth, hot-pressedpaper or a rougher watercolor paper? This is a decision that notonly influences the texture of the final work, but also how youwork, for example canvas will stand heavy impasto being re-worked repeatedly. Alternately, the technique you’re wishing touse will determine the best support.

If you are using oils, acrylics, or gouache, will you be using aground and what color should it be? How about using a comple-mentary colour to the main colour in the picture? If you are usingpastels, what colour paper will you use? And will you lay downan initial layer of complementary colors?

6. Decide On ColorsAre you going to use color realistically or not? Are you going touse whatever colors you’ve got or select out a few to make up apalette just for that painting? Working with a limited range ofcolors can contribute to a sense of unity in a painting and great asense of identify or unity between paintings.

Six things to decide before you start to paint

Design and Art Principles WorkshopKingslan & Gibilisco Seminars, 4670 Hickory St, Omaha, NE 68106 © 1997-98Page 60

If you haven’t got great painting ideas, then all the technicalpainting skills in the world will be near useless. So where do youfind painting ideas you can use to create and develop your own,distinctive art? Here are the options and approaches I believe in.

I also think it’s crucial to allow time to experiment. Be gentle onyourself and allow yourself to make mistakes, to go down dead-ends, to see what might develop. Use each of these painting ideasas a starting point, not the end point.

1. List Your Options, Your Likes and Dis-likesYou can’t have painting ideas without having an idea of whatstyle of painting you want to make, or what genre. So the firststep to finding painting ideas is to make a list of what you optionsyou want to consider.

What subjects / styles do you think you’d like to make (also listwhat you know you don’t want to do), then narrow it down fromthere. For example, do you want to paint figures, landscapes,abstractions ...? What style do you want to use: realistic, expres-sionist, abstracted ...? Are you going to use a limited palette, orhave one color dominate?

Too many options is as paralyzing as too few, so narrow your listdown to one or two and start working with those. Use the charton the next page to get going.

2. Put Painting Ideas Down on Paper

Don’t be misled or intimidated by the pages you see reproducedfrom sketchbooks where everything is immaculately executed,with every page a perfect sketch. A sketchbook is a working toolfor ideas and record keeping, not a work for display. What youput in it and how you do it is entirely personal, like a diary.

I use a sketchbook more like a creativity journal, with as manywords as pictures. I have a pocket sketchbook and pen with memost of the time, and a larger one for when I’m painting onlocation. I don’t worry about being neat or organized, I’m merelyrecording thoughts and ideas for possible use on the proverbialrainy day.

3. Gather Painting Ideas from the WorldYou Live InWhile I love to travel to new and favorite locations, the place tostart gathering ideas is where you are right now. Your living roomand kitchen will provide props for a still life. A garden will provideplants and flowers that change with the seasons. A scenicviewpoint will provide a landscape or cityscape that changes withthe time of day. Persuade family members to pose for you, orsketch passer’s by from a coffee shop. Paint the family cat or dogwhen its asleep. Take photographs to use as reference if youcan’t spend much time at a location.

4. Use an Idea More than Once

There’s no rule that says you can use an idea only once. On thecontrary, a painting idea can be used to create a whole series.Take an old painting you like and work on variations, pushing theidea around and further e.g. different color sets, different angles,different lighting. Just look at what Monet did with his haystackpaintings.

To quote that motivational book that’s such a favorite of mine,Art & Fear (on page 56): “One of the best kept secrets ofartmaking is that new ideas come into play far less frequentlythan practical ideas — ideas that can be re-used for a thousandvariations, supplying the framework for a whole body of workrather than a single piece.”

5. Ask Other People for Painting Ideas

Ask other people for ideas, you never know what they mightcome up with, and look at the work of other painters (both livingand dead). Make notes of paintings that caught your attention.Create your own versions of other people’s paintings (with anacknowledgment of the source) as a starting point, then push theidea further.

Some Ideas to Consider before you start toPaint:

Design and Art Principles WorkshopKingslan & Gibilisco Seminars, 4670 Hickory St, Omaha, NE 68106 © 1997-98Page 61

6. Expand Your Knowledge of PaintingHistoryDon’t ignore rich heritage and sources of ideas from past centu-ries of painting. If you got put off art history by a college courseyou found boring, or think it’s something too academic to beinteresting, then approach the past through artist’s biographies orTV documentaries and films instead. It’s not the subject that’sboring, it’s how it’s written or approached that makes it interest-ing (or boring). If you’ve never read any painting history, I’d startwith Simon Schama.

7. Get Off Auto-Pilot and Try Ideas in aDifferent MediumInstead of changing your painting ideas, change what you’reusing to paint those ideas. Try a new medium, or a combination ofmediums (aka mixed media) to free up your brain from automaticand jaded painting styles. Stop reaching for your favoritepaintbrush and putting the paint on the paper in exactly the sameway that you find comforting and easy. Stop using your favoritecolors and try some new combinations.

Make a huge switch by trying something such as watercolorpencils and a water brush, or encaustic painting. Or if you’re usedto working with wet color, try working with dry color in the formof pastels. Or add a medium to speed up or retard the rate at whichyour acrylic or oil paint dries.

Design and Art Principles WorkshopKingslan & Gibilisco Seminars, 4670 Hickory St, Omaha, NE 68106 © 1997-98Page 62