Garden Solace: Step 2
You may notice that I’m not starting out with a gray-toned canvas, as usual. This is because I’d like to show you a slightly different approach that yields a similar effect. I’d describe it as a more organic approach, compared to the alternative of starting with a flat midtoned field and then putting all the finished detail in during the first sweep–the “Xerox” method, which actually works quite well, but can feel at times like you’re biting off a little more than you’d care to chew. Depending on your personal disposition, you may prefer an alternative, and so here you have one:
Instead of painting the whole canvas with a grayed mid-tone base, I instead leave it white. The goal here is to work in phases and build the composition up, refining it more in each phase. This is accomplished not only with the colors you choose, but with the size of brushes you wield as well. Since we’ll be starting with a basic “chop” (loosely chopping in the colors, that is), which is not at all refined, larger brushes are used. As each consecutive phase requires more detail, smaller brushes will then be used. Try to imagine you are tracking the elusive Saskwatch, who, from what I hear, is now living on some fantastic property somewhere in Washington State. He must have picked up a lot of Microsoft stock back in the early days to afford that–cleverness that would give credence to his wily ability to go undetected despite the best efforts of Mr. Spock to locate his whereabouts on those old TV programs from the 70’s… But, so, you’re on his trail and decide he must be somewhere in Washington. Sure, you could start by going over every inch with a fine tooth comb, but wouldn’t you be better off making some broad sweeps using more general tools (I don’t know, maybe a Ouija board?), and then adopting more precise equipment (a Snickers bar?) as you narrow your search down on the Microsoft headquarters… or, er, perhaps I’ve said too much. But you get the idea. Think big. Think Saskwatch. And remember. Saskwatch hates Ipods.
So the first sweep on the background will be a general placement of elements where they need to be. I’m also using grayed-out versions of the colors that will ultimately end up there. So instead of painting a flat gray field to start with, I’m actually painting a rough grayed version of the composition itself. This helps us because we’re biting off a lot less than in the Xerox method. We still have a lot of room to alter things and tweak them if needs be. But it also gives us a more accurate toned base over which to put our next layer. So not only do you get your toned base, but it comes with a blocked-in basic composition as well. The basic “feeling” of this, is that you only have to get your work halfway correct the first time around, and then you get to start with it halfway done when you begin to put the detail in on the next sweep. It may sound funny, but it actually does take some of the pressure out of the task, which is an alternative to the do-or-die feeling that the Xerox method sometimes has. You may find this suits you better. For those of you who like to fiddle around with your compositions before deciding exactly where to take them, then this method is also very handy. I’ve actually found that I like to use this method for backgrounds, and then revert to the Xerox method for my figures. So you can certainly mix and match to your heart’s delight, just beware of the texture differences that can occur if you’re laying your blocking layers in too thickly (Xeroxed areas tend to have little-to-no texture).
Personally, if I were a Saskwatch who had missed the boat on Microsoft, I’d be looking at the NBA. I’ve seen some of those players, and they have pretty big feet, but come on. I remember seeing a movie where the wolfman took up basketball. And even though he was small, he was really good. I’ll bet in one-on-one Saskwatch smokes that Wolfman into the ground. Of course, being mutually hirsute mythological beings, they’d probably join forces instead of fighting it out. With Saskwatch as center and Wolfman as point guard, I bet we’d see some serious basketball, if only we could track them down. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure Spock gave up the hunt a long time ago. Lazy Vulcans.
