Jack Painting Demo

To start, I made a rough drawing. Making dry brushed marks that are not fully committed to the location of shapes and edges. You can "sneak up" on more accurate marks later this way.

Blocking in the shadow shapes here. This is where the more committed drawing takes place. It's thin so there's still room for adjustments. Observing how the shadows are connected here.

Blocking in the background. The background is real simple, so why not get it all in first.

The full block in. Getting in all the basic planes.

From here you can move in for the placement of the features. Things still aren't fully committed yet to their location and size relationships. That's the great thing about oils, you can take a brush and move it around on the surface until it's in the right spot.

I haven't placed in my darkest darks or dark accents in the face yet or even my brightest brights in it either. I wanted the in between values placed first and then carve out the high and low values.

Jack
Oil / Canvas
9"x12"

The final painting. From the block in to the final you can see what was adjusted how the darks and lights were added to define the form more.

I used the palette knife to sharpen some edges. Generally, I'll work from thin to thick in paint and soft to crisp in edges. Although, it doesn't matter how you start your edges, you could start with all sharp and then soften them in the end.

Exclusive Scott Burdick Painting Demo

A while back I did an interview for tlc magazine with one of my favorite artists Scott Burdick. Today I'm sharing the painting demonstration he did for the interview which hasn't been seen on the net.

"Curious" Tibet - oil, 40" by 26"

Be sure to visit Burdick's site for more work

Landscape Painting Demo

1) Laying in some ground work. I find that having a warm tonality to the ground work for a final image with a cooler tonality really helps with my color choices. A cool ground can work for a warm toned painting as well.

Sometimes I like to place opposite colors down too. It helps me in judging Hue relationships as well. For example, Green grass try a red ground or a blue sky try an orange or yellow.

Getting started is probably the most challenging part. I think a lot about how to start a painting. It dictates the direction of your work a lot. I know it doesn't look like anything but I've got the most basic breakdown of large shapes in this step.

2) Blocking in color. Getting in some darks and lights. General idea of color for large areas. Picking at warms and cools here and there. Keeping it really general.

3) Working from background to foreground now. Sometimes it works to do the foreground first then the background. It mostly depends on your subject. Doing the foreground can work by establishing your value contrast and then you'll know everything else behind it will have less contrast. For this though, I wanted to make sure the tree looked like it is in front of the sky.

4) The Sky is almost there. Adding some more definition of light and shadow to the tree. Making some touches to the foreground bushes.

5) blocking in some more color to the bushes. Making some decisions as to how they will lay out.

6) Adding some more color and texture. Using some dry brushing and my favorite tool, the palette knife.

7) Making my shapes of color look like the objects they represent. Compositionally, I make some of the bush branches point towards the focal point which is the tree.

8) Adding in the tree branches and sky holes. Sky holes are typically darker than the sky surrounding the tree.

9) Making the tree look fuller and defining the mountains. Making some touch ups and it's almost set!

Finished Painting- signed in lower right. Let it dry, frame it, and ship it out to be hung in a gallery.

"Single Tree"
Oil / Canvas
16" by 20"