(그림 공부) The Power of Simple Shapes

“The International District, Seattle” (watercolor, 14 x 21 in.)

“It would have been easy to get caught up in details like the arch, figures, and signage on location, but this would only have frustrated me and confused the painting,” says Stocke.

오늘 아침 구독하고 있는 수채화 잡지 기사중에 Ron Stocke 라는 수채화가가 쓴 글이 있는데 그가 수년 동안 프로 화가로서

지내면서 결국 깨달은 가르침이란 것이 " Simplify, Simplify, Simplify " 라는 것으로 항상 공감하고 있는 이야기여서

여기 그의 그림 몇점과 올린다.

수채화를 그리면서 디테일을 묘사하는 방법도 있겠지만 이 화가가 강조하는 것은 그의 focal point 내에 들어 오지 않은

대상은 단순화시키는 것이 그림의 효과를 극대화 한다는 이야기인데 100% 동의.

그런데 문제는 단순화가 그리 단순한 일이 아니고 잘 관찰하여 정말 특징만 잘 잡아 내어야 한다는 것이 간단한 일이 아니니

연습이 필요할테고....

유화 그림은 조금은 다르겠지만 그 때도 물론 "단순화"라는 화두는 절대 명제 !

“The Yellow Café” (watercolor, 14 x 10 in.)
“I like to play with shadows,” says the artist. “I don’t try to think about how an individual shadow may appear on the surface it’s being cast onto, but rather how to connect multiple shadows to one another. Notice how I’ve connected the shadows of the figures, awning, tables, and chairs into one shape here.”

“Late Lunch” (watercolor, 14 x 10 in.)
“I really only used two hues on the entire painting — yellow ochre and a palette gray — just in different values and consistencies,” says Stocke. “The stacked chairs made for a bit of fun.”

“The French Way” (watercolor, 21 x 14 in.)

“I did this painting for a group a few years ago, while conducting a workshop in southern France. I tried to keep it as simple as possible, by limiting my palette and keeping the shapes very basic. The main figure in the hat was a known actor who had retired to this small town and was the perfect focal point for the painting.”

 

“Dinner on the Willamette River” (watercolor, 10 x 8 in.)

“By backlighting the figures I’ve accomplished two things. one, I’ve created great mood in the painting, and two, I’ve been able to simplify the shapes. I added the chandeliers later with some opaque watercolor. It’s the memory of this painting that makes it a favorite of mine. I did it while on a riverboat cruise with my friend Don Coley, just outside of Portland, Oregon.”

“Morning Light, Bermondsey” (watercolor, 14 x 21 in.)
“Proof that simplicity works, this piece was done with only four colors, and, if you squint, you can see that it really consists of just three basic shapes: the light, which includes the tops of the buildings and the steam coming from the pipes; the church steeple; and the mid and foreground buildings.”