Are You Drawing Something that Isn't THERE?? - Painting & Drawing Tips

How can that be?  

Wendy has really lost it this time, you are thinking.  But yes, you have been in the situation where you are drawing something that isn't THERE!

KIP - Graphite - Newest Commission

OK.  I will explain myself.

I really noticed this universal truth while working on KIP and then right after, mentoring a student with another dog portrait. In the heat of the moment full of the desire for detail, you begin to draw something that isn't there.

Note the white hairs mingled in the black on the side of Kip's face

Both Dogs had something in common. Lovely white hairs that mingle with the black in their face.  Of course it happens in people as well.  You know those pesky stragglers of gray that lurk in your dark curls. Well, they do in mine anyway.  You might be luckier.  

Here's the situation: you have a photograph and the picture on a screen.  In my case, I was working on Kip.   When I work on a pet portrait I usually have several photographs: a coloured one, a gray scale one and then some blurry thing printed out to the size of my drawing.  For big pictures this can turn into 5 or 6 pieces of paper taped together. 

Then you get busy and paint/draw the picture.  Things flow along nicely.  Working with the big shapes and values, work really moves along quickly.  But suddenly it happens. . . .

You begin to draw what isn't there.  

KIP - Close up in gray scales.  

Look at the lines coming out from Kip's white nose area.  See all those tiny white hairs.  You get the magnifying glass and check carefully for detail.  You zoom in on your digital picture.  Because you 'know' those white hairs are there and you must draw them.  Everyone.

Pretty soon you have this wonderful detail of white hairs (read mess) painted/drawn out.   His face is so cluttered you have almost lost the dog.  But . . .but . . .  there are white hairs and they must be included in the picture.  

Step back.  Move away from the picture. . . .

Think about it for a minute.  When you take a full grown dog's head and shrink it to 5 or 6 inches wide, can you really see every hair?  I think that is your Right Brain talking.  

KIP - in life

In fact when you look at Kip in a more realistic size you will see that yes there is some white hairs but very few.  Some of those whites are in fact light spots/areas rather than individual hairs.  And they are not white.  The hair on his chest is white. (Value 1)  But the other whites mixed in his hair have values.  Some might be a 2 others a 3 but they are not white.  You as an artist can pick and chose which ones you want to emphasis.  There certainly isn't room for all of them.  Suggesting a few will of course give the idea that more are there.  (Learn more about Grayscales and Values here  and Values and Colour here. )

Now your saying, I don't do dog portraits and what does this have to do with life.  Here is another place where I see this happening: 

Mermaid Cove - lovely little spot in the Saltery Bay area south of Powell River.  

Drawing  trees in landscapes:  The Right Brain says there are needles/leaves that must be drawn.    In fact if you take a full size tree and reduce it to a 16 x 20 painting you will probably not be able to see any needles.  What you will see is the pattern of the darks and lights that tell you the kind of tree it is.  

Line drawing of Mermaid Cove - note the different marks for the kind of leaves/needles

Looking for the pattern of the values tells the story you want to tell.  Zooming in to see individual needles/leaves has you painting/drawing something that really isn't there.

Have you thought of this before?  Do you find yourself drawing something that isn't there?  

One instants when this is not true is if you are doing a Macro Drawing of a very realistic subject.  Then go for it.  Zoom in.  Get the detail.  Paint it all.  But be careful, even then you can end up drawing something that isn't really there.  After all, you are not using a microscope!!

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Wendy