Artists & Illustrators - UK (2020-05)

74 Artists&Illustrators

I

t is a factworthacceptingthatnot

everypaintingyoumakewillturn

outasyouhoped.Sadly,some

artworksaredestinedforthebin,not

theframers.Weallwanttobecome

betterpaintersandI’msure,likeme,

youaredisappointedandfrustrated

whenanexpectedmasterpiece

doesn’tworkout.

Afterthefrustrationhassubsided,

thenaturalreactionis toreachfor

anothersheetofpaperandstartover

again,puttingthepreviousfailure

firmlytothebackofthemind.

However,thepaintingsthathaven’t

workedcanoftenbe,if usedwisely,

someofourmostvaluable.Plentyof

usefulknowledgecanbegleaned

frompicturesthathaven’tworked

and,insteadofthrowingthemaway,

weshouldtaketheopportunityto

learnfromthem.Ultimatelythe

knowledgegainedwillmakeusall

betterpainters.

Thisapproachis borneofnecessity.

Asa busypainter,I oftencan’tafford

toproducepaintingsthatofferlittleor

nobenefit,particularlyif I’veinvested

toomuchtimeintheircreation.If the

paintingis unsuccessful,I canstill

gainmuchfromit.

Althoughit won’tbea financial

gain,if I candiscoverwhythepainting

hasn’tworked,andlearnfromthat

knowledge,it shouldimprovemy

chancesofsuccessnexttime.

Whena piecehasn’tworked,

I taketimetoreviewandassessit,

attemptingtoanswerthequestion:

Learning

from

mistakes

TECHNIQUE

Not every picture you paint will be a masterpiece, but accepting this fact and studying

what went wrong is very important. ROB DUDLEY lays out his six-point plan for success

photograph? Have you strayed

away from the original inspiration?

A half-hearted interest often results

in half-hearted paintings. If a single

tree inspired you, do you need to

paint the entire forest? Or will it serve

only to dilute the inspiration?

By clarifying the original

inspirational focus of the piece,

problems within the painting are

much more likely to stand out for

themselves rather like the proverbial

sore thumb.

POINT 2 PLANNING

Did you think through each stage

before you began?

I’m a great believer in planning a

painting. A few minutes producing

compositional, thumbnail sketches

will always prove useful. Take time to

fully consider an idea, make carefully

considered choices when deciding

upon format, tones, paper,

techniques... Indeed, all the things

that need to come together when

making a painting.

Paintings often fail through poor

planning – or a total lack of it. Try to

get into the habit of considering the

actions required at every step of the

painting before putting brush to paper.

POINT 3 FORMAT

Have you chosen the best size and

aspect for your subject?

Like many painters I produce several

thumbnail sketches when planning

paintings. These are quite often

“Why hasn’t the painting turned

out as I wanted?” Sometimes the

mistakes are immediately apparent,

and the painting can be salvaged with

a little work. In other cases, the

reason for the failure is not that

obvious and needs further scrutiny

and investigation.

I often find that the best approach

is to consider the very same steps

that I took when making the painting.

Breaking it down in this way allows me

to consider each stage of a painting’s

development independently, as well

as relating each stage to the finished

artwork. When assessing my work,

I consider the following criteria;

inspiration, planning, format and

scale, tones, colour, pigments,

and techniques.

POINT 1 INSPIRATION

Is your painting fully focused?

Painting is obviously not just about

inspiration but the part it plays in the

creation of a work cannot be

underestimated. The spark of

inspiration can lead to wonderful

paintings. However, if it is not there,

or it is snuffed out too easily, then all

too often ideas can run out of steam

• and the paintings can reflect this.
  To prevent this from happening,
  I believe it to be essential to take time
  to make certain that you are really
  inspired. Ask yourself what was it
  about a subject that first interested
  you: why did you stop at that point
  to make the drawing or take the