How to Think When Painting Realism - Artist Advice

In this video I explain how you should think when working on your painting. Watch the video to see what I mean.
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[@Thepurpleful]

I had no clue! I was thinking to myself "This student must be a basic beginner!" I thought it looked terrible. Haha! Come to find out it was done by the master himself! Wow. I am humbled. Hahaha!

[@kbowler9266]

I really had decided to give up on painting because I was struggling too much with color and value. I am going to go back and work on it with these lessons and I feel confident I will be able to make some progress and do a nice painting. Thank you for being so generous and teaching.

[@YamiHW]

At the beginning I was thinking that the image was too close up for me to tell if it really looked like fabric or not 😂😂😂 you're a great teacher, your explanations are very helpful and understandable 👍

[@clieding]

My impression of the “student’s work” was: “I don’t know? The colors look lovely, the brush strokes look fresh and competent... I wish I could paint like that. I wonder what Mark is going to say is so wrong with this effort.” Of course I was not only relieved to find out this was not an amateur effort but was delighted that is was also a master work by Sargent- one of my great favorite painters! Mark, you ol’ trickster! I am really going to take Mark’s advice here deeply to heart; I definitely fall into the trap of getting lost in the detail of texture at the expense of value and impact. I can’t wait to apply this wisdom. I very much appreciate this channel and all of Mark’s valuable instruction.

[@venetiancat]

Your videos are so incredibly helpful-been painting on and off for over 50 years, and I've made more progress in the last couple of months watching your videos (and also Jason Walcott) than I have in all the years I've been painting. I no longer fight with the medium, and it has become a true JOY! Thank Mark!

[@nettierg]

I know this video is 5 years old, but this will really help me overcome that close up perfection problem. Thanks!

[@raulrubencolunga5284]

For some reason it made me laugh loud when you said that the painting was from Sargent, and I laughed because I was shocked not only by that fact (which is awesome), but also by the awesomely clear way you use to illustrate things.

[@Dr10Jeeps]

Another excellent lesson. Thank you very much! I have consciously tried in recent years to paint more loosely and have learned to stand back from the painting to see its true representation of what I'm trying to paint. I was looking at a Sargent painting a few years ago when I was astounded by how he conveyed so much detail in such broad, loose brush strokes. Up close it looked like abstract art. But, from 10-15 feet away.......wow!

[@SebastianTinajero]

I had a feeling that was a Sargent painting by the colors and brush strokes plus he was fantastic at fabric! Great lesson I always aim to paint loosely I try and stop myself whenever I start focusing to much on detail.

[@robyn9513]

I wish you were in Augusta, Ga.!!! The way you explain things makes me feel at ease being a self taught oil painter...Its more of a learning process still, but I am fascinated with it! Teaching myself to oil paint 2 years ago was my way of therapy from abuse. Its saved my life. Thank u for your wonderful video's.💖

[@annacollier5372]

"Stefan Baumann subscribers also watch this channel" Thanks KZbin for a brilliant recommendation. I love art teachers who don't show you how to do things but rather tell you how to go about figuring stuff out yourself and just point you in the right direction. Both are helpful but the latter seems much harder to find! I am now subscribed to this channel. Many thanks!

[@agentsmith4782]

Great lesson. I found that my best paintings look wrong when I look at them close but when I step out everything comes in the right place . Thank you very much .

[@susanlindblad1093]

Excellent lesson. Thank you Mark!

[@andreabluegreen7530]

This is one of the most direct and useful pieces of advise I have found. Thank you!

[@richarddoran2487]

Thanks for your insight and great demonstrations. My work improves with every one of your videos.

[@1974gladiateur]

I miss your videos when we see you painting. I hope you have one coming our way.

[@MrLuisagarcia]

thanks for all your videos. i have learned a lot. i took advantage of your sale and just ordered your paints. thanks again

[@mazartistry]

It’s so true what you say. I visited the National portrait gallery in London in February and was able to see the Sargent paintings. It’s amazing to see so little detail but when you step back it looks realistic. I took quite a few photos close up for reference.

[@miguelrodriguez1192]

Thank you . I've been struggling with this. I know now I have to loosen up.

[@gigig2492]

Just watched this and ordered the essential palette immediately since it's such a good sale price! I hope I get the new formula! Thanks for all your videos.

[@Bhodisatvas]

This is what I love about the techniques of Gainsborough too, look close up and it's a mess but stand back and it's spellbinding :)

[@sketchartist1964]

You're right. I noticed that when I was looking at his work at the Huntington Library.

[@daumantasercmonas2500]

Thank you very much I learned a lot about the importance of color values from you and you explain it just perfectly!!!

[@PrincessAloeVera]

WOW! Great advice indeed!! THANK YOU for this one!

[@user-rx7uh9mg4f]

I paint in landscapes and personally I enjoy painting tiny details. The reason is, because I like to think if this painting was left in a room with one person to admire it for an hour would they get bored quickly? Painting thick strokes that give the overall message of the painting in an accurate way, is impressive and cuts down in time. It also gives you a chance to produce more paintings.. However if you can process and take in the painting quickly it takes away the fun of zooming in the painting and discovering new details and elements. For example in Albert Bierstadt paintings (landscapes), I could stare at it for over an hour (not exaggerating) and I still will find new places I didn't notice before. For me that is the reason why painting in great detail is worth it even if the majority of the audience won't give it more than 10 seconds to look at. This is why on the internet quick paintings that are pretty and easy to understand are usually more popular and mainstream. Just look at instagram small illustrations of a plant can get thousands of likes when a masterpiece full of depth and details gets a thousand at most. Plus it's harder to admire a masterpiece through a screen that's why simple paintings sell so well on mainstream art communities.

[@saultorres9964]

I really thank you, Great master

[@judemcintyre7488]

Thank you for the valuable videos; they are inspiring.

[@articnight6801]

Great paints....love saving time on not having to prep my paints. Ready to go right out of the tube....

[@brittanieboulton188]

Another fantastic video. Thank you thank you thank you!

[@sharonjack7239]

Thanks very much for this helpful video !!

[@BigDaddyZakk420]

Hah, I'm glad you were messing around there at the beginning. My first thought was "well, when you get that close to even a masters painting it just breaks down into a simple series a brush work". That and the fact that it's clearly well done work that was created by someone who knows exactly what they're doing, even from that close up. The values and hues give it away, so luminous and beautiful.

[@sofiereads]

Im a high schooler and i love that specific painting and the artists other works. I knew immediately it was theirs.

[@humboldthipneck9734]

Please keep posting videos. I have learned so much from you.

[@TomPark1986]

You fooled me. Brilliant highlight placements in the painting.

[@gracie30ish]

thank you for being so generous

[@sludgeypop]

You old snake in the grass, ya got me!

[@TMB247]

I learn so much about Art here (and Artists) ty

[@martigreen3055]

Love love your instructional videos. Lots of helpful information most artists are looking for on common mistakes. What do you use or your preference to make oils more fluid?

[@rodcav3]

WOW I learned so much in the first 50 seconds of this video..just by being tricked into believing the cloesup was a begiining students work..then to discover its the work of master painter JS Sargent...taught me me so much about how to , allow your self to be free with your stroke, just capturing the gesture of the drapery with the correct values and tone.....BRILLIANT

[@zygmaszel8376]

good tutorial art is everything

[@andrewjones1071]

Agree about values. Everything else is just taste.

[@EdgarKohl]

My approach to hyperrealism is not merely reserved to painting from existing photos that has already been captured with a camera, i only resort to using photos as reference when i paint on canvas from Memories and Visual experiences a camera cannot not reach.

[@erinmanning7437]

Love your videos. Oh how I need this advice. Slowly learning to make bigger piles of paint and to STOP blending. Took advantage of the sale! How did you know what was in my cart already?😊

[@thetracksidemodeler8573]

I bought a set of Geneva oils when they were first offered. I found them to be thin and oily and ended up putting them on the Free table at our art society. I'm glad Mark has realized the problem and is trying to correct it by beefing up the pigment load.

[@loissemanek1715]

Very helpful thanks

[@justinmarkose9720]

for some unknown reason I knew it was a Sargent... his brushworks are legendary... in fact I have his paintings as my phone's wallpaper...

[@477240]

So informative thank you,

[@nigeldonaldson1647]

Ive taken to using a magnifying glass (when necessary) to figure out realism detail, because if something is convincing up close, it MUST also be convincing from a distance. this helps greatly and saves time

[@katy8823]

Wow that’s was so inspiring

[@katieirish5765]

I love the Amazon idea!

[@youssefmansour3027]

Thank you 💙💙

[@robinormond7344]

Funny thing, before you said it was JSS, I thought, wow, I really LIKE this - what needs to change? LOL. I do tend to overwork, however, and have been working to STOP doing that. It's HARD!! Values are hard to understand, especially.

[@elizabethb7438]

Impressed by your method of teaching, how do I get to Ep.1, 2 and 3? I see some with no Ep # at all. Thanks

[@Znobishtucon]

This is one of the few decent artist's youtube channels despite there being thousands. Other channels should take a hint from this one. Low key, no self-aggrandizing, very educational. And thank the lord, no 60 second intro song at an awkward volume... this isn't television. The only other channel with consistency like this is Teoh Yi Chie of ParkaBlogs.

[@AriesArtist8]

thus helped alot!

[@sonjal.8330]

thank you so much

[@Citizen_X.]

Thank you for the great video. I sometimes zoom into Sargent's paintings on the Google art project website which has high resolution images of his paintings. I have a strange fascination with the way he laid down the brush strokes to simulate realism. By the way, is that a Bible on your desk, near the keyboard? Just curious.

[@108Atman]

Thanks!

[@alm_alb]

beautiful

[@RandyGendronChannel]

Thank you.

[@maximilianredlefs2210]

I really noticed it was a Sargent because I just studied his brushwork in detail while doing master studies of his self portraits. Certainly says more about Sargent than about me.

[@LaEscuelaDelEncanto]

Good lesson

[@KimCyunHi]

My first thought when seeing the close up shot was 'this looks pretty good'.

[@howtopaintwithacrylics2730]

Thank you, I have a question, will you in the future develop acrylic paints?

[@annechesley8565]

Ha ha, I called it! Loved the lesson!!!

[@raggariossart4213]

could you do a video where you paint a portrait like you do with the still lifes please?

[@j0nnyism]

What impresses me is that this is contract work. Sargent was totally convinced of his own methods he never let a patron affect his methodology

[@RobertF-]

How to think when painting realism...is to not think. When looking at what you are going to paint, don't even think about what it is. Turn off the part of your mind that even recognizes it or knows what it is, or even that it's three dimensional. Just see it as flat, abstract, shapes of color. Don't think of it as a three dimensional object with a word and a name to describe it. Just look it as flat shapes of color that can easily be copied onto your flat canvas. This was a big trick that was realized around the time of Sargent. There were a few books written about it, one by Harold Speed, another by John Ruskin. They called it the "naive vision". Monet said it was the basis for Impressionism, to paint what you see without even thinking or recognizing what it is, or even that it's three dimensional. Instead just seeing everything as flat, abstract, shapes of color. Sargent definitely knew about this trick, and it was a huge part of his effortless brushwork. It takes awhile for it to sink in and to get it fully. But once you do, you'll feel a shift in how you look at things. Instead of seeing everything as only three dimensional objects, you can instead see everything as flat shapes of color. Once you got it and understand the trick to it, it makes it so much easier to just copy those flat shapes of color onto your paper or canvas. This sounds simple. It's so simple that the mind can't believe it's that simple. But it really is. This is a great secret. If you really get it, then when you look at something, it's just flat shapes of color. What is your canvas and paints? Flat shapes of color. The same exact thing...

[@atomaalatonal]

he got me at the off colors hint. at first i thought it looks like some satin stuff and good strokes and lights values, notz bad at all. but after the color critique he shook my opinion hard haha.

[@Miacugasi]

Thank you so much I love all of your videos; I have 2 questions 1. is your paint online only? Im going to Austin this weekend so I was curious if its in any local shops? 2. I am a professional painter but I am paid to make not my own work. I feel at the end of the day i am too tired to make my own paintings even though i feel very inspired. Do you think this type of work can be detrimental to creativity and studio practice? Any insight would be appreciated! Thank you!

[@mattcraig9644]

Good words

[@peterkoval]

Was just curious if the size of the painting had any weight to your guidance. Meaning a very large painting could have more abstract strokes if you look close up, but where the painting is intended to be viewed from looks normal. So if you have a very small painting, perhaps your brush work is tighter?

[@brittanieboulton188]

Donyou have any examples of when you first started painting or attempting to paint realism? I'm an artist and I struggle realism (mostly from laziness!) But I really want to start learning again. I feel like I've hit a wall as an artist and it's discouraging.. I used to think I just wasnt capable of realism

[@clarapablo]

Hi Mark, Can I ask you about Toned Oil grounds? Thank you!!..is using a N5 or N6 Value Toned Ground safe ? so that the painting will not tend to go too dark with time , I've read that with time the painting will tend to get darker with toned grounds, how dark can you do them?...some artists prefer to work on a white canvas because it keeps the brightness of the colors and values, Ive worked on toned and white oil grounds and I've always wondered what is the best way to do this, any advice I would greatly appreciate it, thank you :)

[@anlerden4851]

very great art talking for me.🥰😍🤗

[@amandaleahspears]

Can you discuss the "why" of realism?

[@nunu7797]

Shapes and values man.

[@DS40764]

Something I struggle with the most;getting my colors and values correct-all else is easy.

[@gigig2492]

Deborah Smith I was taught to use black glass and it will help you see values more clearly.

[@andrewgordon777]

I knew you were trying to fool us, I've watched too many of your videos. :)

[@caileanparis9998]

I’m lowkey proud of myself cuz when first watching this I literally said aloud, “this is some Sargent shit right here” haha yes!!

[@callie.envoyage]

me too because I suspected the tomfoolery.. he often does this to prove the exact opposite point

[@raadqasemyousef643]

thank you seer

[@carlofrick]

good shit

[@thatcreativebeauty]

Hi how are you, have some questions. Did you guys get phatho blue and patho green yet ? Your paint doesn’t require fast drying medium liquin or galkyd right? You still have to use mineral spirits to clean off of your brushes right?

[@JiveDadson]

No oil paint requires alkyd. There are far superior siccatives.

[@jamesmcginnis1114]

/

[@thatcreativebeauty]

Thanks hun

[@DrWhom]

Sargent had eyes in the back of his room.

[@Expressionistix]

I was about to say - that “students” work was painted with such life and engagement that I would be happy with just that small bit of the canvas over any lifeless overworked realism.

[@cynthiamarston2208]

I read John singer stepped back relentlessly about 8 feet

[@burak5601]

I watched this video before. Did he upload it again? Or he edited it, maybe? Maybe it is just deja vu? I’m so confused :(

[@Burritoast]

inciteful

[@kevinmanning3753]

There's only one John singer Sargent! No one else comes close!

[@noirodex]

“I fooled you” 🌞 ahahahahah

[@JiveDadson]

You didn't fool me for a second.

[@elsagrace3893]

Bwah! I was saying “What? That’s great fabric.” You joker 😉

[@sethph8894]

👍🏼👍🏼😳❤️

[@benmorales-correa746]

You didn't fool me.

[@billyfromla1117]

I was thinking, “ He’s always so nice, but with ocd people if they’re your teacher and you’re not perfect, watch out!”

[@maxferguson6470]

Think you might enjoy my realistic paintings. Max Ferguson - Painter

[@johnpacella9519]

Sad to say that nearly all replies are "crowd sourced", havent seen one reply by OP.

[@centralparkwest2483]

do do dooo, do do dooo, do do do dee doooo

[@GUnSNRoSeSrOcKzz]

Paint what you see, not what you think.

[@zakhoskins6404]

I typed in "Poodlehead Paul", hoping to find news on Rand Paul's 180 on gun laws, but this was the 4th result after 3 dog grooming videos. Hilarious! XD

[@joo7454]

I knew you were trying to fool untrained eyes here. That's called "bravura brushwork" belong to confident masters not beginners.