The Foundation of the Painting

Sometimes I really struggle with a painting.  I will take it back to my easel numerous times, never being to accomplish a finished piece.  I Look back at those paintings that seemed to give me so much grief,  and I now I can see what most of them had in common.  I rushed the foundation.  Let me elaborate a bit on this.  When I begin a painting, I lay down a basic foundation of color.  This foundation determines many things about the finished piece, such as the color scheme, where the light and dark values will lie, and how balanced they will be, and even where the focal point of the painting will be.  All of this is decided before anything that even resembles an object has been brushed onto the canvas.  If these first layers of paint are not working, then the painting will not work. 

I know that this seems obvious, it really applies to so many things in life.  If you are building a retaining wall, and first layer is not level – the wall will not be level, and it will not be stable, and may eventually topple.  Even though it seems obvious, it wasn’t really something that I thought about with my paintings until recently.  This revelation though, has helped me to become more consistent in my painting style, and I believe that I am a better painter because of it.  From now on, I will not rush the foundation.  Here is one of my more recent paintings…

sunflower 14x18