Share to XHere’s a behind-the-scenes look at a new painting I’m working on. It’s a colorful landscape from our local parklands. A “secret spot” my daughter, Elora, and I came across on one of our explorations. Keep in mind, it’s not yet complete, but it’s almost there.
A key takeaway from this painting is how dynamic the painting process is. It’s not rigid and static. I’ve had to constantly adjust my approach and strategy as I’ve worked my way through the painting.
For example, I planned on doing the entire painting with palette knives. But as the paint dried, the thick, impasto strokes became difficult for the knife to deal with. I couldn’t get paint into all the tiny nooks and crevices. So I had to switch over to brushes, which are more versatile. And with this comes an entirely different set of techniques that I need to make work with the existing palette knife strokes.
This is why it’s important to be flexible in your approach. Work through the painting organically. In practice, this means constantly stepping back, looking at what’s on the surface, and considering what it needs. Step-by-step processes work until they don’t! You must be willing and able to break free from them as needed.
I’ll let you know how this painting turns out. In the meantime, you may be interested in our fundamentals course.
Happy painting!
Dan Scott
Draw Paint Academy
PS. I know it’s recommended practice for artists to only show their best and finished paintings, but that doesn’t tell you the full story. I’d rather give you a behind-the-scenes look at the raw process.
