Let the Show Begin
Greetings Friends and Family
Having performed some acting and dancing roles, I am aware of stage directions.
As a painter, I see a strong correlation between actions on stage and what artistic conventions I incorporate in my painting process. The compositional staging of actors on stage and their directional movement throughout the play, as well as lighting, is well planned.
It is also imperative that an artist consider and plan composition first, as well as light source.
All theatre performances and paintings begin with this kind of planning and rehearsals. Except for dress rehearsal, actors rehearse in street clothes which I equate with my black and white value sketch. Color, in both instances, comes later.
My value sketch is my rehearsal. It lays out both composition and tonal values for my future painting in color. It frequently starts with my placement of the “star” of the show, which is my chosen center of interest. I usually place it in what the art world calls the “golden mean”, meaning in one of the upper or lower one thirds of the painting surface. I must focus light on my star. Frequently in my value sketch I incorporate the lightest light with my darkest dark at the center of interest to let the strongest contrast attract the viewer’s eye. Or I may, in some paintings, create a light path to the center of interest.
In Summer Glacier, Switzerland I placed Hannah, the star of my oil, in the lower third of the painting surface wearing a bright outfit and holding a pad and pencil. Often the principle figure wears bright colors just as the star of a drama wears more elaborate dress than the supporting actors. Hannah is a writer and especially loves environmental writing, so to clearly tell her important personal story, I placed her sitting amid an Swiss glacier where she was working one summer. I painted the glacier in neutral tones to contrast with Hannah’s outfit, with directional lines of the glacier and of the rocks she is sitting on, sloping down to the portrait of Hannah.
I painted Mourning Doves, this time placing the center of interest in the upper one third of the painting surface, with the gray and white birds in value contrast with the darkest area of the sky. They are surrounded by amorphic abstracted sky in which I incorporated a path of light leading a viewer’s eye to the birds. I painted the darker wire across the sky at a rising angle to also bring attention to the birds.
Good staging in theatre and painting share many similarities. Having everything of equal importance can ruin an otherwise good show or painting. This is often a pitfall if an artist paints too closely from a photograph. I try to paint only what is necessary to tell my story or share my intended emotion.
Workshop
My sculpture workshop at Southern Vt. Arts Center, Manchester, Vt, is scheduled for July 12-15 and sign up is now available on the SVAC website.
Sign up soon and come and create with us. Beginners as well as more advanced students are always welcome. Class is limited to 12 students.
Best wishes,
Elaine
This is a lovely and effective description of your process, Mom, and why your paintings are successful compositions.
Your sisters would have loved your analogies to dance and stage :-).
Thank you, Evie. You made me smile. Nice that this newsletter is posted on my model, Hannah’s, birthday.
I love this entry, and especially the analogies to theater — and the rehearsal and staging process. All so important, and they help to explain and clarify why your work is so effective. I love both of these pieces, and I recognized Hannah right away before I’d even read your description.
A treat to have things explained in this way. You’re a great teacher. I would love to take a workshop at some point!
Thank you, Max , for your very generous comments about my recent Art Newsletter. I am always delighted when a reader feels they learn something from my entries. What fun it would be to have you in a workshop some day! Again, my thanks for writing. Hope to see you soon.