Last month I was privileged to participate in a painting workshop led by Margaret Dyer, P.S.A. She specializes in figures and is a master at revealing the essence of people with few strokes and gorgeous colors. Her frequent comment to those of us in the workshop was a caution against "seeing too much." In other words, don't try to put too much detail into your painting.
Photoshop can be a great help to you in this regard. If you are painting from a photograph, you can use Photoshop to eliminate some of the detail and get down to the essence of the image.
Use Image Adjustments to bump up the contrast and wipe out some detail. Use the Blur Tool on busy portions of the photograph. Try Posterize to exaggerate the basic color blocks in the photo. Experiment with other tools to get the look you are going for. Then print your photo and paint it without all the details.
For more information about Margaret Dyer: http://www.margaretdyer.com/
7/11/2007
Do You See Too Much?
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2 comments:
Great observation. It inspired me to start again on a piece I've been working on but put aside. I think I'm missing the 'essence' because I'm getting bogged down in the details. I'm experimenting with the 'motion' blur tool and 'seeing' much more with less. Thanks so much.
I went to Margaret Dyer's website and I see what you mean. Her figures and objects are outstanding with such subtle detail.
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