Tips and Techniques: Paint What You See

By Elspeth Young

Recently, a gentleman approached me at the conclusion of an art lecture, and eagerly asked me this singular question: “When you paint faces, do you paint the opposite color of the highlight in the shadow area?”

Detail from The Trial of Faith, an oil painting by Elspeth Young

His question startled me.  I’d never really thought about it.  I considered for a moment and then stammered out a reply:  “I suppose I do sometimes,” I mused, reflecting on countless times I’ve added greens, purples, and blues to the reflected light or shadows on a portrait.  “But I don’t paint by formula,” I continued, “It all depends on what I see.  If I see it, I paint it!” 

“Oh, then you paint what you see,” he said, looking almost as though I had given him some master studio secret.  “Yes!” I replied, even more puzzled.

His query, though really quite an innocent one, has caused me much reflection since then.  “Paint it like you see it” has been our Studio motto for such a long time that I tend to forget my student-days when I craved artistic “formulas,” to help me in my quest for style and technique.  It was as though I thought becoming an artist was simply a matter of memorizing some master list of What-To-Do-In-Any-Difficult-Painting-Senario—a group of artistic recipes known only by the pros.  In my student strivings, I drank in any instructor’s “idioms” for never-fail-techniques, and adopted such shortcuts as often as possible, believing that they were the only legitimate way to communicate line and color.

Blessedly, my greatest mentor—my father—as well as two painting professors in my college days, did not demand a certain technique from their students.  They were not anxious to churn out protégés who mechanically painted by a list of rules—“paint highlights warm and shadows cold,” etc.  Instead, they expected their students to visually dissect and analyze the world around then, and then to become painters by personal trial and error, not by rote formula.  The ability these masters instilled in me—to discern the beautiful and then to communicate it with a brush stroke (no matter how long it took to obtain the desired result)—became my own “formula” for success, and it’s the only one I know which never fails.

I believe that one of the greatest misconceptions about artists is that “it’s all in the tricks and techniques.”  Actually, it’s all in the eyes.  The ability to see is paramount.  The actual techniques used to communicate what an artist sees is only secondary, and, I find, comes naturally once the artist has “looked” long enough.

So, in a world influenced by paint-by-number, art kits of every kind, and countless polar theories on the very best (or only!) methods and techniques best for the budding artist, perhaps it really is a “master studio secret” to simply paint what you see.

How the Manti Project Began

by Al R. Young
It is impossible to turn back the pages of the calendar and point to a particular date on which The Manti Project began.  I can only point toward the haze of years, that now obscures so much of childhood, and say that somewhere "over there" or "back then" I yearned for a visual expression of stories from the Book of Mormon; more particularly, I yearned for an expression of the grandeur and wonder I felt in connection with the stories.

I have known, since the very early days of childhood, that I had artistic ability, but it has been the journey of a lifetime to try to understand what kind of ability and how much.  It has also been my experience that the dreams we have--about what we might do or what we might become--usually serve as sketches or even maps for what we should dare to do with the gifts we have.  My dreams about these things have come in stages, like hiking in the hills, where we see a summit we want to reach, go there, and discover that something even better looms beyond.

The early foothills along the way had more to do with achieving various kinds and degrees of artistic skill; not that my early works were merely lifeless exercises, for the development of skills ought certainly to include the ability to convey great feeling in connection with a subject. Looking back, all the foothills have been part of the same mountain range.

Of course, a great many things could be said about that journey because it lasted 40 years, but in terms of Book of Mormon artwork, the trail of my artistic endeavor finally took me up over a ridge in 2006, from which I had an unobstructed view of possibilities.  It is to that trail-head that the beginning of The Manti Project belongs for it was there that the sketch lines of the endeavor coalesced into meaning; and it was there that the destination finally had a name.

And I Will Not Deny The Christ (Moroni the Wanderer) by Al R. Young was the first painting completed for The Manti Project.  In its creation and substance can be found all the facets of the project as a whole.  Not the least of these is the approach to the material culture and the setting with which the figure in the painting is associated. 

On the Easel: Al puts final glazes on new painting

Al puts finishing touches on the figure's hair

Al is days away from completing his latest painting referened in our April 13th post.  Check back for a sneak peek at the finished painting!

A Sampler of Al Young Studios Frame Styles, Part 1

Rachel by Elspeth Young in "Renaissance" frame style

Having recently finished a wall in framed giclee canvas prints for a client, we wanted to share images of a few of the finished pieces, emphasizing particularly the hand gilded and antiqued frames and frame plates created by Ashton.

Each frame style can be commissioned to offset an original painting or create a more individualized presentation for a giclee print.

Styles shown right and below:

• Rennaisance
• Vine
• Baroque
• Oak Leaf

 If you're interested in a price quote, please contact the Studio.

Lydia by Elspeth Young in "Vine" frame style.

Mary and Martha diptych by Elspeth Young in "Baroque" frame style

I Shall Be Whole by Al R. Young in "Oak Leaf" frame style

Finished wall with framed giclee canvas prints

Equipment and Materials : Two cleaners not to be without

"Goo Gone" used as thinner and cleaner

Often in life, the "playing" part is a good deal more congenial than the "cleaning-up" part, and oil painting is hardly an exception.  Just when you're too whacked to paint any longer, the tools of the trade can require a rather onerous amount of scraping, swishing, rinsing, and scrubbing to stand ready for future painting sessions.  At our Studio, we've found that the pain has been eased considerably by two readily-available cleaning agents not always associated with artistic endeavors; and we've enjoyed their time-and-labor-saving benefits for a long time.  They are:

Goo Gone (a Magic American product) - pictured left

Awesome (a product of the R. F. Thompson Co.) - pictured below

We use Goo Gone as a paint thinner for swishing our brushes at the palette during painting sessions, and to rinse them at the end of the painting day.  Akin to Turpentine or OMS, its citrus scent is as pleasant as Grumtine, at a fraction of the cost. Details are available at the Magic American web site.  We buy the solvent in quantity, store it in the container in which it is shipped, and keep a bottle handy for dispensing it as part of each painting session.

No matter how often and ardently we resolve to keep bottles, medium cups, and brushes clean, accumulations of paint and medium always return. To clean up these accumulations we use a product aptly trademarked Awesome. Details are available at the R. F. Thompson Co. web site.  To further augment to its "awesome-ness," it's generally sold at dollar stores.  Awesome cuts through stubborn accumulations rather quickly, but often works best when the glass or metal objects are soaked. Though brushes can be soaked, we have found that brush bristles curl permanently if the brushes are left in the solution for long periods of time.  Usually soaking brushes for fifteen minutes or so loosens dried paint sufficiently. but without harming bristles.

"LA's Totally Awesome" used as cleaner and solvent

Awesome can also be used at the end of a paint session to rinse brushes before cleaning, but brushes should be washed with soap and water before the brushes are used in another paint session--otherwise, Awesome can begin to act as a solvent on previous paint layers.

As with any paint thinners or cleaners, always use in a well ventilated area (according to manufacturer's instructions) and cover when not in use.