The ART of THICK PAINT

30. Edges

ADDING DETAIL

It is impossible to get much detail with a palette knife (although I do have a very thin, ski shaped knife I use for branches and poles). This lack of precision is a good thing at the start of a painting. Start simple and bold and work toward the complex and detailed. If you understand this one principle you will be well on your way to becoming a better painter. Beginning painters are generally obsessed with surface detail and line quality. Such concerns reveal the inability of the neophyte to grapple with the real issues of painting. Obsessing over surface detail and line quality is a stumbling block to better painting. The sooner you abandon such concerns the sooner you will become the painter you want to become.

You might be so obsessed with such superficiality it might take a leap of faith to set the concern for detail aside. But becoming a great artist demands creativity including imagining an understanding you haven't yet developed. Trust me; you will find your abilities blossoming and your perception expanding if you magnify the essential (focusing on bold design) and eliminate the superficial (by minimizing detail).

EDGES AND DETAIL

Once you have your four to five values zones applied with your palette knife it is time to begin softening edges and adding essential detail. Squinting is an excellent way to find the quality of edges in your painting. Squint at your scene to find the sharpest edge. You want to preserve the sharpness of this edge at all costs. Find other edges that are less sharp and begin softening with your brush. This is done by very gently pulling the bristles of your brush along the edge where the two zones meet. This can be done with the edge of nearly any flat or bright brush. With practice using the edge of a brush is a great time saver (you aren't constantly switching your brushes). But if you are intimidated using a large brush with such precision use a small round bristle brush. As you smooth the edge you're not applying paint but manipulating paint on the surface of the canvas. But of course you can also add paint this way too. If I have a branch within a tree shape, or a fence post, or a pole, I will use a round bristle with the appropriate value color. You can also soften edges by applying color of a similar value adjacent to that value zone. In other words, by making the two zones similar in value it reduces the contrast between the zones making the line look softer by being less noticeable (two contiguous zones of highly contrasting values creates a sharp edge). In most cases you will manipulate the transition between the two zones by gently blurring the two colors together.

FINISHING THE PAINTING

By roughly blocking in the value zones with the palette knife, being sure to keep the color loosely mixed, your painting will be 90% finished. This is the time to step back and give a close analysis to the design of your painting. Don't be in a hurry. Take the time you need to analyze each compositional element. Look for accidental aspects in the loosely mixed paint that can be emphasized to suggest detail. Squint at your painting. Turn it upside down. Use your nine value grayscale to check the value zones. Blur your eyes to see if the color is as intense as the scene before you. This can be especially important because I find colors painted en plein air look less intense when I bring the painting back to the studio. Be sure all your colors are fully saturated while the paint is still wet. Use all of your observational tricks to check how your painting compares to the scene before you. Determine if your edges have the appropriate combination of sharp and blurry edges.

After you have made a mental checklist of any problems quickly make the changes using a round brush to soften edges or, if radical changes are needed, use the palette knife to scrape off excess paint and reapply the appropriate color.