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A Rat's journey in oil painting.

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cause the rat:
Sorry. Nothing to show again. This is a following what I preach thread. Was getting into my next landscape value study and stopped. Tossed my already mixed paints and walked away from it. I found myself doing the same mistake over again. They are not really mistakes. Just not the type of art I want to create. I know that needs some clarification. So here we go. In modern 'alla prima' style art they follow the rules of angles and subsequent values to the T.  We are talking abstract or impressionism paining. I don't have any desire to paint that way. The laws of subsequent values state the sky is the brightest plane of the painting. This works for that style of art. In the art and style I want to mimic the sun is the brightest thing and what ever it's shining on is brighter than the sky. Just as it is in real life.  Both the intensity of shadows and lights do follow the laws. Just add the sun to the equation. So from this point on I'm doing two things. Continuing my figure drawing studies. And now I'll be making 5x6 study copies of the painting style I like. To see what I'm looking at when I paint do a search for 'Hudson river school of art paintings". Weird right. I don't want to be a landscape painter. Yet that's were were I put my starting point. Until I get more confident in my skills in copying the human body I have to start somewhere. Might as well be on the backgrounds.  I'm interested in creating anthro characters as the main focal point. With landscape and buildings nothing more than eye candy behind them.

cause the rat:
Hoping to inspire you to get better wile I'm getting better. Cutting through the nonsense and the unnecessary.
 
Yep, another nothing to show thread. This is more about art and why art purists are morons. I'll keep this one on learning to draw. Because without this skill it's kinda hard to go on. Well, maybe not. Every hear of Johannes Vermeer? Everyone uses his painting "Girl with the pearl Earring" as a tool to prove the golden ratio is a thing. He used a device called the Camera Lucida. Wile looking threw this device he could trace out the outline and details of what he was looking at on the canvas. Then paint it. His art hangs in museums. There is another artist who used actual photos and painted over them. Don't know or remember his name. But his paintings hang in museums as well. Tracing. The good, bad and ugly.

The good for both digital and traditional artists. It a great tool to use to learn about how color interacts. The color of light and shadow. Learning color harmony, value and all the rest of what color theory has to offer. Get right into it without using something wonky to work with. Using a device like the camera lucida allows you to set up your composition. Draw it out and begin working. Yes. There is a digital version of this tool.

The bad for both digital and traditional artists. Don't have to talk about stolen art. Just don't do it. Without having something to trace your out of luck. Even using the camera lucida you would still need something to trace out to have something to draw.

The ugly truth about tracing. You will never learn to draw on your own. Without this skill you will limited what you can create.

So is tracing art? Yes. Or there would not be paintings of tracing hanging in museums. Art purists are morons.

Traditional art techniques for both digital and conventional artists.

Drawing out your composition. If your studying art like me you have heard this before. " In order to draw correctly you need to learn to draw vertically. With your arm out in front of you and holding the tool at an angle." OK folks. This is not only a waste of time but it's not even historically correct. If you can already draw with a pencil on paper you have all the drawing skill you need. This re learning to draw is a total waste of time. And in the end will do nothing for you. Ever hear of Leonardo De vinci? There is a long list of names I could add here as well. The idea for the painting was drawn out first on paper. By holding a device just like you and I hold a pencil. Then transferred to the painting surface. There were two transfer method. Both would take to long to explain. So here's a modern video with all you need to know. Step three on this video is one of the exact methods used by historical painters. Only they used a pointed stylist. Not a pencil to transfer the drawing. So they wouldn't obscure the original drawing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJU0IEaDSRc

I honest believe that this total waste of time was developed to keep people in art schools longer. Drawing loosely translates to. "We are going to teach you to use as many unnecessary muscles as possible. Making this  technique as hard to learn as humanly possible. And change the word sloppy into loosely so you feel better about it." Don't waste your time. 

cause the rat:
Thought it would be better to post proof of old art techniques. Ya, I know "Great, Another post with no art. What are you thinking???" Showing my bad art isn't going to inspire anyone. However posting to prove what I said is the truth will. The link below is a video on the documented history of the use of drawing devices. The Camera Obscura predates the Camera Lucita. So in truth I was wrong about what tracing device Vermeer used. However it's still tracing. And his art is still hanging in museums. It's a bit long winded. He uses historical documents to prove a point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvOGoMol5m4

Please note I'm not promoting tracing only. Learning to draw will allow you to be more creative and expand your art. Also please keep in mind you will not learn to draw by tracing.

The vid link below is from the same person. He demonstrates from historical documentation the act of tracing a drawing onto a paint substrate. Just like the link i used but whit historical tools used bu the same people who's paintings are hanging in museums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPDACNcHkt8

cause the rat:
WOW, OK I know it's been forever and a day. Not cat fishing, just not being able to paint as much as I want. Not to mention I'm trying to learn this on my own. Shifting through a lot of bad advice. Plus family, physical and other things keep cropping up. So guess it's best to say what I've been up to and where I'm going.

Before i go any farther I want to say something. Positive I'm going to make some of you angry. To bad. A great example of how so many of you would benefit to take so little effort to making your art better. Here's something I've seen recently. A blue green dragon on a blue and green background. A good amount of skill went into drawing this dragon. Really nice shading and colors that made up the dragon. No effort was made what so ever to make over all art look good. The dragon would have looked better on a white background. Simply put the over all art was bad. Even the simplest basics of color theory would have made this art better. All the effort put into making this dragon was a waste of time. Cartoon? Nope. Even cartoons use color theory to make their characters stand out. Someone could have put half the effort in that dragon. Painted the background using color theory and contrast. No mater how much effort was put in the first dragon the second would look 100 time better. The furry fandom is full of bad art.

So this is what I've been up to and where I'm going.

Value studies. I've said it before and i'll say it again. A gray scale is a waste of time. Doing a black and white value study based on the values of the colors seen in the objects or scene is how to do it right. Basing your value choices on a predetermined scale is like pouring milk into a bowl of cereal and expecting to learn how to cook a stake. Gray scale studies are like the scales in music. Once learned you don't have to practice them over and over again. Time to move on to color.

Color value matching. Every time you turn around your going to hear "value is more important than color. If the value is right the color could be wrong and it will still look good." That's all fine. But no one has any lessons or techniques to get good at this. So I had to come up with something I could do. These are the two exercises I did to make this happen.

Matching the value of three different mixed colors. The idea is to train your eyes to see the value ( how light or dark a color is ) instead of the color itself. This was mind boggling, frustrating and made me want to pull my hair out hard. But after some real effort I'm to the point where I can get it right most of the time. I mix three different colors. Then I view them using my camera in black and white. If they all look like the same shade of gray I did it right.

Mixing colors to make a nine part value scale from dark to light.  Thought matching three colors was hard? Probably a lot easier on a computer. Mixing paint and judging how light or dark it is compared to what you've already mixed is ruff. I'll post soon on how to do this exercise.

Where am I going. Master studies. Going to start by painting portions of paintings done by artists I like. Figuring out how they were done. The techniques and brush work used. Learn as much from what they did before I make messes of my own.

Yes, I still wipe off or toss everything I've done so far. Not going to fall into the trap of justifying my mistakes. Yes I still stand by science and say the 10.000 hour thing is proven wrong. It's proven learning the basics, breaking things down and learning things in segments, taking the time to get good at what your bad at, is the right way of learning art. 

cause the rat:
If you haven't read the above post read it first. Posted twice in one day.

My own life has proven to me the 10.000 hour belief is bad advice. I went from starting the guitar to playing jazz in three years. I would have had to play 9+ hours a day. It's not the time. It's the effort that counts.

Explanation of 'color value'. The value of a color is how light or dark the color is. Viewing a photo in black and white will show the values of each color in that photo.

All three exercises. Yep, three. The first one you should get good at is the black and white nine step gray scale. I got this off the web. Not sure if the youtube channel I got from is the original creator. Need to give credit so the link below is to the youtube video that started all of this. This exercise is the same as the Psycho Scale Exercise but in black and white only. Get good at this before starting the color exercises. Great way to start training your eyes to see value.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WowABJEpm1c

An explanation of the two exercises I came up with and the rules to follow. Because they're mine I get to name them. Psycho is kind of short for psychedelic. And very close to how your going to feel hours into these exercises. You will need a camera or phone camera that can be set on gray scale to do these exercises.

Psycho squares. Three colors of matching value. Goal. To mix thee different colors with matching values. When viewed in gray scale they appear as one shade of gray.

Any three different colors. As light or dark as you want to make them.  First mix your main color. Then mix second color and judge by eye if it's value is the same as your first. Check this with your camera on gray scale. If the two values don't match judge them again with your eyes and try to see the difference in value. Change the second mixed color according to difference and judge it by eye again. Then with the camera. Repeat these steps until you get the first two colors right. Then mix a third and repeat the process all over again. Get to the point where you can mix two of the three right judging with your eyes and all three extremely close in value the first time before starting on the second exercise.

Some encouragement. When I started this I would spend twenty or more minutes judging and remixing the second color alone.  Why do this? Every artist I've seen on Youtube that gets thousands for each painting says the very same thing. "Value is more important than color. " Seeing the value instead of the color is that important.

Psycho Scale Exercise.
Make a nine step scale from the dark to light using mixed colors. Important. Before you do either of these exercises with color get good at this exercise using only black and white paint. The rules and procedure are basically the same

This exercise uses three different scales. A three spot, five spot and nine spot scale. Each of these scales is depended on the colors you mix for the smaller scale before it. Mix a different color for each square. An example. From dark to light. Red, blue yellow, green, orange, purple, gray, yellow, green. Never use the same color next to each other. Mix each color individually. Never use two of your mixed colors to make an in-between color.

Start my marking out all three scales. I keep mine around a half inch square for each color spot.

Starting with the tree spot. Mix your darkest color. Now mix the lightest. Pint the darkest color in the first square of each scale. Paint the lightest color in the last square of each scale. Now mix a new color that, to your eyes is directly in the middle of the values of the dark and light color. Try your best to get this right by eye alone. Now use your camera to judge your results. If you are positive this value is directly in the middle of the other two paint it in the middle square of the three spot. The third square in the five spot and the fifth in the nine spot.

The five spot.
The idea is to mix the two remaining values. Each one directly in the middle of the values of the ones around them. First judging by eye and then with the camera. You will instantly know if this exercise is a failure. All three scales depend solely on the middle color of the first three. The exercise is a failure if all five values in the fiver spot are not evenly spaced when viewed in gray scale. Do not go past this until you get this extremely close or right without using the camera to judge. OK, you can go ahead and fill out what is possible in the nine spot for practice.

The nine spot.
Paint the value in the second square of the five spot into the third square of the nine spot. The value on the fourth square goes into the seventh slot of the nine slot square. Mix the remaining colors. Use the camera to help at first. But by this time you should be good enough at seeing values to get it very close by eye.

Is this possible to do? Yes it is. Why put this much effort into it? Because your art is worth it. Spending perhaps a hundred hours or more on this is far better than nine thousand on slop. Learning color theory, contrast, composition and all the rest are easily found on the web. All these techniques are far easier to put into practice once you learn to see values. If value is more important than caller than this skill should be learned first.

Something that will also help. Once you got good at a nine spot black and white value scale try painting in black and white. Base your exercise on something in full color. Do this exercise without viewing the photo/object in black and white. Then judge your results by viewing your work and what you based it on in black and white.

Something else that will help speed up your progress. Do not keep any of your exercises. Do not look back at them. Do not compare what you do now to then. We all justify our actions. Good and bad. It's automatic. It will put the brakes on you getting better. Remember what you did right and how you got there. Thinking about what you did right and the actions you took to get there is how you train your brain. And it's scientifically proven to be just as effective as doing the actions.

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