
Helpful Hints for the Artist #3
Guiding Faculty member Charles Reid has this advice:
Use your artist’s eye
Never look at a subject with wide-open eyes—the more you look, the more you’ll see. Remember, less is more. You must understand your image. Is it dark against light? Is it light against dark? Painting is not as complicated as you might think.
If you don’t have a model, set up some objects in front of a window without a strong interior light. Squint very hard and see how objects and shadows merge without apparent boundaries. Still squinting, do you see any object that’s clearly darker or lighter than the thing behind it? All boundaries that are hard to see when squinting should be lost. All boundaries that are apparent when squinting should remain.
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