• Special message: I began these weekend posts in 2008 with my Compose blog. A few years later, I decided to transition to these weekend posts to be delivered by email. The emailing list has grown by many multiples since then, but some of those earlier posts are worth repeating. Today's is one of those, dusted off and refurbished. One of the most admired painters in western art history is John Singer Sargent. A part of Sargent's universal appeal is his mastery of the economy principle. Rather than meticulously define every little detail with
tiny brushes, Sargent developed his brushstroke skills so that a single stroke with an appropriately large brush or a minimal of massing or gradation communicated an entire idea. I invite you to suspend any aversion you might have to 19th century décor and fashion and let's examine a few passages from Sargent's portrait of Lady Agnew. To the untrained eye, this might appear to be a detailed painting, but on closer scrutiny, we find just the opposite. Here's an isolated passage from Lady Agnew taken from her sleeve just above her elbow on the right side of the painting. Notice the effortless blending of values in close range, then those five little spontaneous strokes of
violet Look at two more examples where his brush is doing the same thing. In the example on the left below, you can detect how little he actually moved the brush around. A single stroke followed by a minimal blend, perhaps just dragging his
finger along the edge, is all he did-all he needed to do. There is NO fussing around in either of these passages. From the upper sleeve on the right From her pendant Same in these two examples. From the arm of the chair From the upholstry Here's Lady Agnew in all her glory with arrows pointing to all these passages. Select a single rose or carnation or any flower with zillions of petals. Taking your clues from Sargent, do a study of this flower using only twelve brushstrokes. Here's a hint: Begin with the shadow areas, then mass in the halftones
with a single pass, then place the lights. (For a demo of using limited brushstrokes, watch this Quick Tip. Doing this, you will experience how less is always more. Enjoy an abundant weekend!
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Happy Painting,
Dianne
dianne@diannemize.com
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During my Language of Painting series, I explained the role of our visual elements. If you'd like to review those roles to better understand the behavior of elements, here are the links to each of those
discussions: Color --Value -- Shape -- Texture -- Size -- Line and Direction
You can access the archive of all my newsletters (as well as the Quick Tips and other stuff) at any time by going HERE.
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