Enviroment Composition & Perspective
[b][color=LemonChiffon][u]Introduction
[/u][/b]
Welcome to this back to basics mini workshop.
As a self taught artist, I have collated various influences and my understanding of their art methodologies namely: [b]Philip Straub[/b] (NCSoft Art Director and regular IFX contributor for all things enviromental), [b]Glenn Vilppu[/b] (Maestro of figurative anatomy), [b]Singer Sargeant[/b] (known more for his figurative swarthes of colour, he had an eye for landscapes as well), [b]JMW Turner[/b] (mood and atmosphere) and [b]Joseph Gandy[/b] (unsung artist and architect hero) into what I hope is a simplified overview of this vast subject.
The aim of this workshop is really get most of the beginners to enviromental art a good solid grounding and a nice summary for moderate to advanced users about the these fundamentals that make or break a picture.
As Vilppu is often wont to qoute: " there are no rules, just tools"
This is true to a certain extent for all things related to art, and as an analogy of comparing a natural self taught pianist playing by ear) and one who formally learns the art of playing the piano, we can extrapolate these apply to digital and traditional art
Even so, not all of us are naturally gifted or talented,
but with hard work, determination and constant critical analysis and understanding, I feel that the whole process of the journey with art, will be a lifelong fruitful one.
Daniel Dociu sums it up best: "[b]Real talent is effort, work and sweat.[/b] I think that what we percieve as talent is simply a person who has found a way to connect paint A and point Z in their brain by a very convoluted path that we don't relate to and can't understand. Good-calibre talent is hard to find. It's really hard to get through hordes of people who have no business being near a pencil"
[b]Overview[/b][/color]
[ol]
[li]Format[/li][li]Composition as a tool[/li][li]Material source and Reference[/li][li]Focal Point - Rule of Thirds & Golden Ratio[/li][li]Types of Compositions[/li][li]Additional Tools & Shapes[/li][li]Left brain + Right brain thinking[/li][li]Perspective[/li][/ol]Before attempting any type of enviromental or figurative painting/drawing; it is helpful to have a design plan.
Some artists will elaborately produce line sketches and have a definative plan that they adhere to throughout the paitning process, some will start with an abstraction and define the forms as the painting progresses, others use an amalgamation and intuition, allowing for an evolution of shapes and themes resulting in a different final outcome from the initial desired.
In all of these, there are no hard and fast rules.
And it is best to stipulate that the best tool and methd is best used depending on the desired outcome, and that is varies
[u][b]Appendix[/b][/u]
[b]Philip Straub:
[/b][img]http://drawn.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/straub.jpg[/img]
Philip’s meticulously detailed digital and traditional oil paintings are purely based on the fantastic. Currently employed by NCSoft as Art Director, Philip Straub has been working as in illustrator/concept artist in the entertainment industry for over 10 years at the same time as merging his art into many other markets with previous work as EA’s sports Art Director and Universal Pictures.
[b]Glenn Vilppu: [/b]
Glenn is a living art maestro of figurative art. However, the fundamental precepts of value, form and lighting which translate wholeheartdely to enviromental art as well.
“In over 45 years of teaching drawing my focus has been to bring to the student logic and practical application of drawing in communication. Drawing is thinking and feeling and the needs of the artist today to communicate are no different than they have been down through the ages. All artists have the same problems that they must deal with the differences are in their interests and the order of importance they give to various elements. I do not teach a style, I teach tools of communication and give direction to acquiring knowledge. Knowledge coupled with the development of skill and feeling is what creates the magic. There are no Rules, just tools.”
[b]Singer Sargeant (1856-1925):
[/b]
[size=2]In May 1874, Sargent entered the teaching atelier of a youthful, stylish painter, Carolus-Duran, who encouraged his students to paint immediately, to exploit broad planes of viscous pigment, and to preserve the freshness of the sketch in completed works. [/size][size=2]
[/size]
[size=2]Although Sargent painted, showed, and won praise for both portraits and subject pictures at the Salons between 1877 and 1882, commissions for portraits increasingly demanded his attention and defined his reputation. [/size][font=geneva,arial,sans-serif][size=2]Sargent flourished particularly as a purveyor of likenesses to the English aristocracy. He maintained a dialogue with tradition, creating grand-manner pendants to family heirlooms by van Dyck, Reynolds, and others. American patrons also continued to call upon Sargent’s skills. [/size][/font][font=geneva,arial,sans-serif][size=2]After the turn of the century, Sargent grew tired of the demands of portrait painting. He was constantly preoccupied with mural paintings for the Boston Public Library, [/size][/font][font=geneva,arial,sans-serif][size=2]Sargent engineered his career so astutely that by 1907, when he pledged not to accept any more portrait commissions, he had established a solid reputation as a watercolorist.[/size][/font]
[b]Joseph Gandy (1771-1843):[/b]
[b] [img]http://www.hughpearman.com/2006/illustrations/GandyBankofEnglandrruin_01a.jpg[/img][/b]
"Once upon a time, there was a wizard who knew what Heaven and Hell looked like. In fact, he designed them. He also drew the greatest royal palaces that Britain has ever dreamed of, and a massive new Parliament building. He assembled complete, monumental cities and prototype skyscrapers. The name of this magician was Joseph Michael Gandy, and he did all this in the first few decades of the 19th century. Gandy was doomed to disappointment - he built very little in the real world, and was destined to be comprehensively eclipsed by another architect. He died a mad, penniless, abandoned old man. But he was no failure, because his extraordinary visions survive."
to be continued…
Part I: Format
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