Amber Path – 15 Minute Painting Demonstration!
The painting I’m bringing you today is called Amber Path, 5×7. I painted this just a couple days ago and I really liked it. I think you will too.
I was out walking thinking about what I wanted to say about this painting. Obviously, we have the live painting session in the members area, which has my thoughts as I was creating it—probably more valuable than this. But we’ve got tips and insights here too.
Finding Inspiring Reference
One of the main things I was thinking about was how inspiring the reference was to me, even though I’d had it prepped in my image folder for probably three or four months. It was based on a photo that I definitely took for quite a lot of digital rides. What I love most about it is the foggy effect and the gold leaves. We don’t get as much of that out here in New Zealand as you might like. Lots of green trees that stay green unless it’s a cemetery or a park.
I really want to communicate this: you’ve got to find really excellent reference. Hopefully you take it yourself, but even if it’s a riff off of something else you found, it’s got to be inspiring. There are times I’ve done really nice paintings from mediocre reference, but it’s a much greater challenge.
On Reference and Imagination
The tonalist masters wouldn’t have done what I do with digital reference—they couldn’t have. But would they have if they could? I think so. Constable, for instance, very much liked working over the top of existing paintings, which sets things up with ghost images coming through. He liked working from sketches of his friends, sometimes painting over their work. I think a lot of this was because he was looking for ways to assist his imagination.
Imagination is definitely got to be a huge part of the process. It’s inevitable because you really can’t help but express yourself. But I think we get in our own way. We apply too much rational thinking to a process that is really an oscillation between the rational mind and the soul mind—the heart mind, the feeling mind. That’s definitely one of the things you need if you want to be a good painter. You have to get a feeling from art, and most people do on some level. But to be an artist and really wish to express yourself that way, it’s incumbent on you for that to be very strong.
The AI Question
I watched an interesting video about the dangers of mixing AI with your art. I could certainly see that, especially when I was a commercial illustrator—the temptation might be great given time limitations. But honestly, you need to define yourself as who and what you are and what you’re trying to do. If you’re a fine artist expressing yourself, you can use all sorts of different tools. There’s no difference between using photography or using some sort of AI image.
Obviously, it could be incredibly dangerous. People can lean way too heavy on the reference when it’s a photo. But ultimately, I thought that take was super negative and fearful. It doesn’t really matter how much or how little AI you use as part of your reference process. Do whatever feels right to you.
For me, it’s actually quite limited because I have a full set of digital chops. I can do things to my reference you wouldn’t believe without any AI. What I do like it for is adding a path, something like that. It’s not too bad at creating color casts, but the real problem is it tends to get creative. One thing I do love it for is uploading another photo and having it riff—that’s stable diffusion. Worth checking out.
Back when writing was invented, Socrates was very much anti-writing. He thought it would destroy humanity, that people wouldn’t be able to remember things anymore. Much was lost in the way of memory with the invention of writing, yet we all use it. We couldn’t have the modern world without it. Increasingly, you’re going to see this is the case with machine intelligence too. Be careful, I would say. Be very careful.
The Technical Work: Gold Leaves
Now, the challenge here with these gold leaves—I don’t get a chance to do that as much as I might like. I mixed a much deeper rusty gold and laid that in first. Then to get these lighter golds to lay on top, here’s a tip: it’s not much different than the secret I’m always imparting with my coastals when doing light-colored waves over blue tones and grays.
You really want to have a lot of oil in your paint. That’s the place to load up on the oil and a good pigment load too. You want a good pigment load, but not only that—make sure it’s got a good amount of oil so it’s wetter. That’ll mean it lays right on top of the other paint.
Keeping It Fresh: The One-Day Rule
A big part of my process nowadays is holding off on steps and putting the painting back on the easel maybe once or twice more after the first color pass. But I don’t like to do that anymore. Sometimes I have to, but if I don’t have to, what I do is try and get it all done the same day.
My reason is this: when you load that painting back on the easel, you run the real risk of overworking it. I’ve done it hundreds of times. When I have to work over multiple days, I’m very focused and try not to start messing things up.
Here’s the logic: you’re looking at inspiring reference and doing your best to interpret it with your paint and brush on the board. When you make that mark, it’s best to leave most of those marks. Modify parts of it, smooth it or blend it slightly, but what really sucks is going over all those marks yet again. You end up producing what I call a rice grain painting—no more expressiveness to the strokes. It’s all quite mechanical and overworked.
Those paintings can work fine, but I can look at them and say, “I should have stopped right there.” That’s why I like to keep things fresh. The best paintings often happen when you know when to stop.
Thank you so much for joining me. I really appreciate you coming around regularly. Take good care of yourself, your family, all your loved ones. Stay out of trouble. Fight the power.
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