Perspective

Exercise: Linear perspective

Find a location in which there are hard landscape elements. Look at all of the elements that you can exploit to convey a sense of space. Choose your viewpoint well and note exactly where the horizon is and allow your lines to converge towards that point. Note how a high horizon line can make the view enclosed and claustrophobic, while a low horizon line achieves a sense of distance and space. In this exercise, the use of line by drawing with a brush or a drawing medium will be more important than your use of colour and tonal contrast. You could use pencil or a stick dipped in paint to delineate lines and allow fluid colour to have a different role. You could use paint diluted to washes to create a sense of indeterminate space that is structured just by line.

Sketchbook 3, pages 43-44

If you were to type Chester City architecture into an internet search engine, the likelihood is that you will see pictures of the Roman amphitheatre, Norman buildings or the Rows of black and white shops that were built on the foundations of the Roman fortress. While this is all very appealing and forms the basis for Chester Tourism – I wanted to experiment beyond the limitations of the exercise and therefore sought something ore rugged or contemporary.

Fortunately, recent building developments have embarrassed innovative design and the use of layered building material. The copper box (as I shall call it – which I believe are apartments) and the Storehouse (theatre, cinema and library) are at either end of Hunter Street. Both share certain qualities of design and materials, and although both are contemporary structures – they fit perfectly in their surroundings.

The copper box appears as if it has been constructed from rectangular boxes stood upright, wrapped in a malleable and ductile metal with a pinkish-orange colour. The windows are off-set from one another and the flat roof projects at different angles as each rectangular shape penetrates the skyline.

The Storehouse building is as equally exciting. Made up of square and rectangular shapes that sit horizontal to the skyline. Its form juxtaposed against the Gothic architecture and diagonal spire of the town hall.

Establishing a viewpoint to capture the essence and structure of either of these buildings proved challenging. Furthermore, I loved the texture of the copper box but felt the viewpoint of the Storehouse lent itself to this linear exercise. I decided to sketch both. (See figure 1 and 2)

Fig. 1 The copper box
Fig. 2. The Storeyhouse

In addition to the above sketches I took some photograph’s, which I used to develop a line drawing of the copper box.

Hans Hofmann suggests suggests that the ‘significance of a work of art is determined by the quality of its growth’. (Hofmann, Weeks and Hayes, 1967, p. 46) He goes on to say that this involves the process of development. This is echoed by Hugh Moss, the author of The Art of Understanding Art when he writes about process over product. He goes on to suggest that entire process becomes the art (Moss and Suart, 2015 p. 51)

During some of my previous exercises I have attempted to demonstrate and explain my creative process – albeit not always successfully. It rarely enters my mind to take photographs at various stages of producing a piece of work. However, as this exercise was about linear perspective, I felt that it also offered the opportunity to demonstrate the process.

The surface is oil paper (20×16 inches) stretched and dried over plyboard. It had been prepared with a light grey acrylic wash.

Using the above sketch for reference (as well as photographs) I started by painting lines with a #6 long-flat brush (see figure 3). The oil paint was burnt umber mixed with a linseed oil medium. For the line drawing I used the straight edge of a ruler to mark the vertical lines. With a concentrated medium it was easy to correct marks until I achieved an acceptable level of accuracy.

I then removed all the vertical lines with a linen cloth. The intent was to avoid the temptation to paint between the lines.

With a palette of cadmium yellow, vermilion red, ultramarine, burnt umber and titanium white I mixed a reddish-orange colour to which I added linseed oil medium. Using a #14 and #18 short-flat brushes I applied vertical and horizontal marks to create form and perspective. The process in producing something that vaguely resembled my sketch had been somewhat laboured; more so in achieving the correct proportions and a linear perspective. I was relatively pleased with the outcome thus far (see figure 5) which I then removed using a linen cloth. (See figure 6)

With the outline of the form still visible I repeated the process, starting with vertical and horizontal brush marks.

Repeating the process for a third time the texture of the surface had become smooth a glossy. As the exercise was about linear perspective I left the vertical and horizontal line visible. Using a short dry brush I removed paint to create diagonal marks – replicating the copper sheets.

Fig. 9. Into the garden

On reflection the outcome (see figure 9) is just an isolated form with no reference to its surroundings. The viewpoint presents a simple linear perspective but no sense of indeterminate space. However, at this juncture I decided to let it dry before contemplating how (or if) I would develop this further.

Reflecting on my own rationale, motivation and actions to produce this artwork I felt as if I had taken a simplistic and stifled approach. If an element of producing art includes enjoyment and self-satisfaction how is this conveyed to make it interesting – and does it have to be?

A week later (on a Sunday morning) I revisited the Storeyhouse. Working with acrylic paint I produced a loose painting in my sketchbook. (See figure 10) This time I also wanted to capture a sense of space and surroundings.

Within the hour I was back in my studio. Using the above sketch, my memory and some photographs I produced another study, again using acrylic paint. I felt that the disused bus shelters provided a sense of space and distance whilst the viewpoint and angle of the building provided a sense of linear perspective.

For the final study of this exercise I looked at each shape of the building individually. I drew the outline shapes in acrylic paint, using the edge of a ruler to maintain straight lines. The building structure comprises of numerous different materials: glass, perspex, steel, lead and brick but to name those that are visible from the outside. I had tried to capture this through the choice and density of my colour palette, albeit with varying degrees of success. I really like the outcome which I feel reflects an industrial energy of the buildings materials and construction.

I certainly spent far too long on this exercise, but it was enjoyable. I think this goes someway to answering my own question about the process becoming part of the end product.

References:

Hofmann, H., Weeks, S. and Hayes, B. (1967). Search for the real. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press, pp.46-65.

Moss, H. and Suart, P. (2015). The art of understanding art. London: Profile Books, pp.48-51.

Exercise: Aerial perspective

An illusion of distance and receding space is created in three ways: controlled loss of focus, a loss of colour saturation, and distance, which can be achieved by colour temperature. Paint a simple landscape in which you exploit these three devices of aerial perspective.

Sketchbook 3, pages 49-53

Feedback from my tutor steered me to using different mediums. While I have never really warmed to using watercolour paints I felt that this may be a good opportunity to experiment with them. I think my reluctance to using watercolours is that once a mark is applied, and it dry’s, its difficult to cover. I also feel that colours bleed into one another which can make the painting appear messy. With this in mind my approach was to apply paint sparingly and dab off excess water and paint before it dried.

Sitting on the boot of my car I was able to rest a prepared board with watercolour paper across my knees: holding the board with one hand and painting with the other. Before applying any paint I made some feint pencil marks of the key features within the landscape. I wanted to avoid painting by numbers as I felt this would stifle the fluidity of the painting. I was somewhat apprehensive about applying too much paint which I feel led to a reasonably pleasant outcome. Incorporating a linear and aerial perceptive, the paintings appear very suggestive with lots of white surface (see figure 1 and 2) which I felt created a sense of indeterminate space. I felt that figure 2 was more successful as the track and clouds merge over the horizon, whereas figure 1 appears flat.

Figure 1
Figure 2

Moving to a different location, and reverting back to oil paint I prepared a palette of burnt umber, burnt sienna, yellow ochre, Naples yellow, violet hue, crimson red, ultramarine and titanium white. As I did not have a disposable paper palette I stored my palette in a thin plastic container (available in hobby craft) when not in use.

Using the back drop of Salisbury Plain – Wiltshire for this exercise, I noted that even at it’s highest point – its still flat. There are no chimneys, street lights or telegraph poles, and the gravel tracks and wooded areas all look the same. This made it challenging to convey a sense of space and distance using aerial perceptive. However, these features do gradually become smaller and less visible as the recede to the horizon which after all provides an aerial perspective.

For the oil paintings I chose not to make any preparatory pencil marks, but instead made marks with paint using burnt umber thinned with a quick drying medium (although the term ‘quick drying’ can be misleading).

In order to capture light as quickly as possible and paint what was in front of me in a single session I had to paint alla prima (wet on wet). I had recently visited the National Gallery and Tate Britain in London where there were some excellent examples of alla prima painting by some of the most famous impressionist artists, including Cezanne, Seurat and Monet. Monet’s Poplars on the Epte (1981) is a great example.

For figure 3 I worked quickly using wide brushes to convey energy and avoid the temptation to depict single blades of grass and wheat stubble that lay before me. For figure 4 I wanted to be more assertive with my mark making but it became a mash of impasto and blending. On reflection this could have been more productive by using thinner paint and being more expressive. The latter is something I want to work on as I develop.

Figure 3
Figure 4

Reflecting on the course handbook I was reminded that the illusion of distance and receding space is created in three ways:

Controlled loss of focus and contrast in the distance. The strength and clarity of tonal contrasts diminish in the distance
Colour temperature – warm colours painted in the foreground will achieve a sense of closeness
Loss of colour saturation: more faded and muted colours in the distance.

With his in mind I decide to explore each of these methods in turn with three separate studies.

The first of these studies (see figure 5) was to create a sense of distance through the loss of colour saturation: with more faded and muted colours in the distance. My viewpoint over the landscape was not conducive to using this method – it was too flat. As a result I tried to compensate through the decreasing height of woodlands, which although lose colour saturation as the recede, the whole piece lacks definition in the foreground and tonal variation of shadows.

To depict a controlled loss of focus and contrast in the distance I felt that there had to been something recognisable within the context of the painting to focus on. For this I used a field of hay bails wrapped in black plastic. (See figure 7)

With the direction of the sunlight from the top left of the painting, the facing trees around the edge of the field were in shadow. This provide a stark tonal contrast between the trees and ground surface. The bail on the left appears too large in comparison to the bail third from the right. I feel that this may have been due to the hidden dip in the field which I could have emphasised to make the illusion of distance more convincing.

Figure 6 – Controlled loss of focus and contrast in the distance

In late July and with the wheat fields ripening the vista was ideal for the last study in this exercise. Creating the illusion of distance through colour temperature, with warm colours in the foreground and cooler colours receding into the distance. Up until this point I had orientated the painting surface to replicate the landscape. For this study I orientated the painting surface vertically in order to create an equal balance of land and sky.

Figure 7 – Colour temperature – warm colours painted in the foreground

Reflection:

I felt that I had successfully conveyed a sense of space and distance through incorporating linear and aerial perspectives. However, whilst this was the objective of this exercise I felt I was able to experiment and challenge myself in other areas. Painting outdoors can be a logistical challenge and as much as I worked on the principle of keeping it light, I became reliant on my old Volvo as a mobile art studio.

Despite having experimented with the different methods to create the illusion of distance and space, these can not be taken in isolation. Indeed, combining them together naturally adds to the illusion of distance.

Although I experimented with acrylic and watercolour paints I was more at ease and confident with oil paint. That said, I feel I need to be less fastidious when painting outdoors.

I have tried to vary my viewpoints within the local environment and some have been more appealing than others.

Learning points:

Detail simplified with distance
Continually assess what you are painting (its easy to paint the landscape without looking at it)
Incorporate different methods and techniques to create an illusion of distance and space
Continue to experiment with different media