Paul Ingbretson Talks about Best Ways to Become a Good Painter - No. 55

[@AustralBrown]

Amazing talk Paul, your concept of visual order has been truly an eye opener

[@westfieldartworks8188]

Memory painting as an exercise can be really powerful. I also agree that doing master copies, or at least painting portions of master works, the values and edges, and so on, is really helpful. Thank you, Paul.

[@JayPatel-tm4fv]

It’s really absorbing listening to Paul in this series. The knowledge you become privy to through the internet! Interesting listening to the pitfalls of copying from photographs compared to life, particularly that you’re using source material that has already interpreted a 3 dimensional world to a 2 dimensional image. But I’m wondering how much of that could also be said of the traditional practice of master copy in art?

[@Catwoman1464]

I liked the idea that anytime you put 50 paintings of yours next to each other, starting from the worst to your best, at any point in your life there will be 25 paintings, that look worse than a current picture of yours and 25 that look better. So skill is constantly transforming.

[@PaulIngbretson]

Hmmm!

[@brostonmash9556]

Very good session Mr. Ingbretson , you got straight to the point on this one and it finally felt like you didn’t leave anything out .

[@PaulIngbretson]

Thanks, find I always wish I had included other directions. Pursue me on those you think missing if you would

[@luisaf.v.cleaves9412]

Precious Video!! I love what he says about objectivity "is it true what you are seeing"!!!!

[@sicastellara]

HOW have you not written a plethora of books? I want to buy your brain and be able to flip through it, wearing the pages down for years. You are so inspiring.

[@PaulIngbretson]

lolololol!!!! Be careful what you wish for... :)

[@sicastellara]

@@PaulIngbretson I’m beyond excited!

[@catherinecervas3726]

Thank you for sharing the processes of what you practiced/how you learned/what you did in school. Wonderful discussion.

[@KuldaevaWatercolor]

Thank you for sharing valuable lessons, Paul!! I love watching your videos and learning a lot from them. Also, as a disabled person and an artist, I do try my best to paint from life, however, my physical limitations do not let me do works from life often and I work from photographs sometimes. What I am trying to say is, if one has a passion and a desire to create, one is free to explore creativity by any means available to that person.

[@PaulIngbretson]

The exception that proves the rule as they say. I believe Theodore Robinson had such limitations, too. Seen his work?

[@julieb7093]

Thank you for sharing your wisdom and knowledge with us!

[@PaulIngbretson]

My pleasure!

[@Drumaier]

Great video Paul, as every single of your videos. Having access to your wisdom is a gift of life. And being from Argentina it was nice to hear you mention the country. Cheers and have a great 2022 🙏👍

[@nerzenjaeger]

Thanks Paul, some fantastic advice in there. And now excuse me, I have to get painting.

[@PaulIngbretson]

Good point, there is such a thing as too much time in one's head and not enough in one's hands.

[@richardgiedd2062]

Thank you for sharing so much of you background. I found that it invaluable to have a skilled teacher looking over the shoulder at ones work as the way to learn to "see." I'm thinking of Mr Gammell's comment about "scales falling from the eyes" as one is guided through the process of learning the language, which I think is particular to a certain way of painting and seeing as practiced by the Boston School. It really helps to have a great coach showing one something so complex and skill based, else one can wast much time attempting to re-invent the wheel.

[@MarioDoiron]

I've been struggling with color and painting in general for years as a self taught artist/Illustrator. My paintings looked like colored drawings rather than reality. Although the drawing & proportions are correct, they lacked authenticity. In just a few of your videos, I've gotten so many "Oohhhh..." moments I had to write a quick word to say thank you. It's finally starting to make sense now. I'm quickly becoming a big fan.

[@PaulIngbretson]

Great to hear, Mario.

[@artsiecrafty4164]

Great talk! I have found that you are right! I had to move away from ,y life classes and I miss them and it is showing I my work. I think I’ll do a still life with a skull and a plaster cast.

[@PaulIngbretson]

YEA!

[@bio-plasmictoad5311]

I didn't start off using photos, but when I did I improved massively. I think it depends on the artist and their approach to painting.

[@melihgumuscay7359]

Thanks Paul

[@NickNicometi]

Great talk, and the value of play, initially. I'm studying guitar and before I get bogged down on intricate chords, scales, and theory, I use basics and allow myself to just develop a feel, and finger dexterity, incrementally adding more complexity so I am challenged but not too discouraged - like drawing a cast before painting it, then moving on to the complexity of the figure similarly.

[@PaulIngbretson]

Yes, like that.

[@DavidWoodArtist]

Great advice, although I would partly disagree with the photogragh statement. The impressionists and many other artists used photograghs, they may not be the best resource for visual information, but they can be a starting point. And these days, especially with Concept Art, they are an invaluable resource.

[@nerzenjaeger]

The goals are different, as Paul has stated. His goal is an accurate impression of nature, which you can best achieve by painting from nature (or live model, etc.). Every experienced painter will tell you, that painting from nature is superiour to painting from photograph, because you have to translate the 3rd dimension and the richness of colours, etc. In Mr. Ingbretson's approach, potential commerciality is not a relevant factor, but only the depiction of nature.

[@firesidefairytale]

Painting from a photo is like baking a cake without sugar, butter or eggs.

[@cs1lva53]

do you consider painting off a mirror, the same as a photograph ?

[@PaulIngbretson]

see my reply at Parting Mist just above?

[@sketchartist1964]

I would think so since you're still viewing forms with both eyes. Photographic images are like looking at forms with one eye closed. Photos lack the sense of three dimensions.

[@arslonga6185]

Paul great video as always. Could you post up some examples of your work at ASL & your work with Mr Gammell?

[@PaulIngbretson]

Will do, gladly! Let's see if I can find a few, even drawings. May take a 'minute'

[@PaulIngbretson]

I will try to bring you something

[@PaulIngbretson]

Forgot I replied to you, AL, but look at the first image on No. 54. That was a brown paper study done under Gammell (with some red and white chalk) to be traced onto a canvas and painted. My Ingbretson Studio facebook page has the 'Red Pot' my last from the Gammell era. No critiques

[@arslonga6185]

@@PaulIngbretson Thanks Paul, love your work & your approach to painting

[@richardcarr9640]

How do you paint someone who has passed without using a photograph?

[@PaulIngbretson]

lol. You can't but, of course, that is the exception rather than the justification of defaulting to the photograph. No?

[@richardcarr9640]

@@PaulIngbretson Not quite understanding your answer. If i want to paint Abraham Lincoln or Queen Elizabeth 1 or any other person or 'place even, from the past, or reproduce a Rembrandt Vermeer Renoir etc how do i paint it without a photo( 100+usually of a painting by a master.)? Just kind of taking you to task about "never" use a photo. Always enjoy immensely your videos.

[@janroach1852]

Someone should post your demo of girl with a violin on your site but in real time. This would explain a lot about your thinking and how you start and finish a painting and we would be able to examine each stage of your painting process. But I still think there are few of us who would be able to pull this off without at least a rough linear guide. It's amazing to watch.

[@PaulIngbretson]

A rough linear guide isn't harmful unless you can't ignore it. :)

[@PaulIngbretson]

Do mean to do that some time soon. It's 40 hours so needs culling.

[@canalcerrado2433]

Your tough 😅, photography isn’t that bad, Degas did use it. Its just a tool. You can try painting an apple or whatever from life, and then take a photo from the same set up and compare it. I think is good practice perhaps not for a beginner but can be useful.... I am over the dislike of photography since I have no choice when practicing the figure or heads... old masters use engravings as a way to compose ... it can be used also as a tool to be rather cold and objective... if you cant paint a photograph which is already flat... what makes you think you can paint from life which is 3D ...😁

[@PaulIngbretson]

I find myself doing critiques online so I am not averse to its limited use. Most of what I talk about is directed toward best practices for a student who needs to be able to interpret form, etc, onto a two dimensional plane.

[@christopherhanson9578]

I agree with painting from life to learn and study. But if you only paint from life it can become a type of crutch. Models can be expensive and a working artist needs to be able to produce no matter what. Artists have been using optical aids since the time of Vermeer. Its only a problem if your unaware of its limitations.

[@PaulIngbretson]

Fair enough! Although the pre-photo version (third sentence on expense of models) was to train yourself to create a figure out of your head a la the impoverished Millet. A figure learned by looking at nature, memorizing.

[@LaoZi2023]

It sounds like you way of teaching drawing is similar to the way the teachers at the Maine College of Art teaches, or was teaching. I am not sure if there is a unity of thought in the college for drawing and painting. When I studied there each teacher had their own way to approach drawing, but it was most definitely not the constructive approach.

[@PaulIngbretson]

There is a certain self-evident rightness to this. It is very direct.

[@holyfamilyiluvu]

I disagree with banning photographs. I only have this blurry cropping of my old oil painting so some of the reflected color on the face won't make sense etc. It was never really "finished" per se but I learned a lot. The caveat ought to be maybe use photos only for form and value. I don't have the photo to drive the point home, but this was done from a photo of my mother under fluorescent light in an ugly brown paneled bathroom draped with a denim shirt. She has black hair and freckles. In all fairness tho i saw her in person (a million times) and posed her/took the photo so I was in control of the angle n negative space and probably had pretty good visual memory of the qualities of her skin etc. I don't remember if i used a graph method to transfer it but know i penciled it on canvas first. As I was new to painting that allowed me to focus on playing with color, light, reflected color in unreal space, the properties of oil paint etc without stressing about proportion and composition in the absence of a model to sit for an extended time. Long story short, I think as a reference in imaginative work, photographs can be very helpful in learning to paint. Artist Kateri Thomas Biggers 2004 imgur.com/a/bXBf1uw