Seeing the Bigger Picture
- Andy Walker
- Mar 16, 2024
- 2 min read
How imagining the finished painting helps you get there…
I’m off to paint the Matterhorn in April, and so I’ve begun to research the types of paint I’ll need, the conditions I’ll come across there and a bit of the mountaineering history of the place. Not that I’ll be actually climbing the mountain (there’s a handy cable car these days!).
In my exploration online I have come across the amazing paintings of the Australian artist Ken Knight, and in so doing have inadvertently realised a great painting truth. Look at the short video of him painting at the end of this post. What struck me was the way he started so abstractly and seemingly randomly – splodging paint on here and there, scraping it off or pushing it around in seemingly haphazard ways, going thick and then thin, adding in spots of extra colours…
And in just a few minutes he creates an amazingly realistic painting!
Ken Knight. Day 5. 8:10am – Antarctica
How does he do this?
It looks like some kind of magic trick, but actually it’s not. The simple truth is that he knows what he is painting before he starts. He sees the finished painting in his head before he begins. He therefore knows exactly what each “random” mark is building towards. And so he can be free in his mark making and expressive in his painting.
The mistake we can make
The mistake that we all tend to make is to try and copy a photo or a scene in front of us without first imagining the finished painting. Now, a painting is not the same as the reality before us. We all need to adapt, simplify, and change this reality to produce a painting. And therefore it seems obvious that we must know what we are aiming at. If we can picture the finished painting in our minds, then we can aim for that. If we have not thought it through, then we are just hoping that something will emerge from our efforts.
So, my plan for the future is this – I will always try and imagine the finished painting, with all the colours, textures, brushstrokes and design, before I even begin to draw it out. I need to see the finished painting in my minds eye, and then I will know what I am trying to produce. Less hoping for a good outcome, and more making one happen!
How about you?
Now you’ve read all this I suggest you look at his video by clicking on the link below (3 mins 33 secs) Enjoy!
And to learn more of his process then watch this video as well 🙂
Comments