Quick Tip 367 - Before Painting

[@EllenR654]

I’m watching this 2 years later….but wow! What an awesome question, and just love learning about your thought process, this is a gem, so glad I found it! I had been thinking watercolors would be useful for studies, especially when you are on the go, you have confirmed that…going to get some. I want the cute little thing you have there 😊 Thank you!!!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Our pleasure.

[@joanistotler8804]

Stupendous, Dianne - one of the best ones yet - thank you for sharing your thoughts and thanks to the person asking the question.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thanks, Joani. This one was a special pleasure to do.

[@jeanninef2110]

Dianne, you are the best teacher !! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge so freely! Much appreciation sent your way!!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thanks, Jeannine.

[@rezahosseinzadehnasser993]

Thank you. You have created an encyclopedia of great tips which will help artists for many years to come. I would rather call your videos GREAT TIPS rather than quick tips.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Wow, thank you, Reza!

[@annamay2152]

I love your videos soooo much...look forward to every one...you are an amazing teacher!!!! ⚘❤⚘

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thank you Anna May. And thanks for watching.

[@jojojo8835]

Thanks! And thanks to whoever made the request- fantastic question!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

My pleasure.

[@richardfrost407]

I've just discovered you I'm overwhelmed with the wealth of information you are sharing. What a gift! Thank you.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

My pleasure, Richard. Welcome aboard!

[@leilaskye8143]

Dianne I love how you explain what you are thinking about out loud. Brillient.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Have fun with that. Thanks for watching.

[@everlolol]

Dianne, your videos are more helpful than all books on art techniques in my library, thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Wow, thank you!

[@cynthiahalewijn6140]

Bedankt

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thank you, Cynthia!

[@alicianaive2620]

As always Dianne well explained & it's a joy watching your tutorials because of the way you explain, in detail yet in the easiest way! Thank you! 🌹

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

You are so welcome!

[@anneburke2405]

Thank you sooo much Dianne. That is just what I needed.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

You are so welcome! Have fun giving it a try.

[@donnacarraway9182]

Thank you so very much! How a great artist thinks is, in my mind, the most valuable lessons that I can learn! Thank you for sharing this information with us!!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

You are so welcome!

[@mona2242]

Thank you for this very important lesson. You brought it home for me when you said to observe the scene & work like a painter. I do have a problem with the artist in me getting in the way at the very beginning. Thanks!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

I would guess that it's your eagerness to get going because the artist in you wants to know what's happening and doesn't really care about the outcome until towards the end.

[@debraclark1547]

I’ve learned so much and using your techniques more and more in my art classes thank you

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

You are so welcome! Have fun using them.

[@ssstults999]

Always so helpful and insightful 💙 This one especially helped me.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

My pleasure. Give my process a try.

[@TheLeahsKitchen]

Thank you. I love your scientific and sensible way of thinking.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

You are very welcome. Thanks for watching.

[@johnhowton6339]

your videos are the best so detailed and informative iam so thankful for your effort .

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

My pleasure. Thanks for watching.

[@cynthiahalewijn6140]

Thank you so much! Helpful and inspiring at the same time!!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

You are so welcome!

[@derekfernandez7701]

15:12 It was so great to see how you work with watercolour Dianne! It's incredible to see how quickly you work to establish the colours and values. For a watercolour painting do you work by laying washes and adding darks - or do you paint in a more tiled approach? Thank you so much for this lesson, there's so much to learn from this. 💙

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Derek, I never use the tiled approach. Whether a watercolor, oil or pastel, I work the whole painting at once. In watercolor, it depends upon the subject, but I usually start general and work to specific.

[@derekfernandez7701]

@@IntheStudioArtInstruction Thank you so much for your reply Dianne! You're amazing. I'm working on a torso at the moment and it wasn't working, I went back to your questions - what am I seeing, what is the gesture, how is the light interacting with it - it really clarified that I have to focus more on structure and how light reveals that structure in this instance. Thank you again Dianne! I just bought your book 'Finding Freedom to Create' I look forward to learning more from you! 💙

[@dawnmillett4875]

Valuable lesson. Thank you!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

My pleasure.

[@kimbalfre3759]

Another really helpful video. Thank you!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

I'm delighted it is helpful. Thanks for being a Studio Insider member.

[@aekorfker]

I have a lot of patience in observing (before) and reworking the real painting (after) but find it hard to do discipline myself to do preliminary drawings; it sounds like a really useful excercise, especially the gesture drawing is something I haven’t given much thought yet, looking forward to give it a try!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

If you adjust your attitude towards using preliminary studies for discovering what's there, preliminary drawings can become an exciting part of your process.

[@aekorfker]

@@IntheStudioArtInstruction Yes I believe that!

[@dtaverner834]

Thanks so much Dianne this summary was really helpful I was grappling with this and now I think I understand how to move forward and have a plan at my fingertips! first, then, next = sketch (movement), notan (light and darks), pallet (choice of hues) =design,value,colour?

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

This process has worked for me for decades.

[@DeanMarsh1962]

That was very good, really helpful. Thank you!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

My pleasure. Give it a try.

[@claudeduda3607]

I am late this time to listen to this new video. Always useful to me. Merci 👌

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

You're welcome 😊

[@shirleyandrews1152]

Thank you! Your are so helpful ❤️

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Happy to help!

[@karri4135]

As always, very helpful, Dianne. Thank you!! I’ve been wanting to ask for a while: how do you translate a small study onto a larger canvas? I’ve had several smaller works that don’t seem to be as successful once I’m making them into a larger size.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Karri, please watch Quick Tip 251 to answer this.

[@karri4135]

@@IntheStudioArtInstruction I do find the grid method to be very helpful. I guess I was thinking even larger tho. Perhaps a 24x36. I loose the interesting little parts where brushwork sort of interplays and it seems to lack detail overall. Any thoughts on the larger format?

[@carolina.rentes]

Thank you for an amazing lesson, as always. Could you do a video about those color studies? The composition and the notan are already a part of my beginnings, thanks to you and Richard Schmid, but I still struggle with the color studies, making them a lot more complicated that they should be. I would love to learn how to use them to play a little bit with color, you know? Like exploring not just the colors I see, but learn how to effectively use those studies in some exploration, but somehow I always end up lost and frustrated 🤡. So I usually skip this step and go straight to the painting itself, but as you can imagine, sometimes the color doesn't turn out how I imagined or wanted to .. Hahaha. Anyway, than you again, really, for everything ❤️

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

I think it might be helpful for you to watch Quick Tip 373. Also, I have a number of Quick Tips on color. Go to kzbin.infovideos and scroll through to find all of them.

[@dianemurphy5307]

Thanks, this was so helpful!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Great!

[@marthabarlow2554]

Wow. So good

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thanks, Martha.

[@marionfinney7933]

Vielen herzlichen Dank. Mit jedem Video lerne ich ein bisschen mehr. Ihr Wissen scheint unerschöpflich. 🏵️👋

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Du bist herzlich Willkommen. Vielen Dank für das Ansehen und Teilen Ihrer Gedanken.

[@invo1609]

Vielen Dank für ihre so tolle Erklärung. Das werde ich probieren. Liebe Grüße

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thanks for watching.

[@graceful6894]

Thank you

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

You're welcome

[@ext1013]

Can't believe you can work on that small palate and not make a mess. my palate is always messy. This is how a pro works. thanks.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Mine can get pretty messy sometimes, too, but that's when it's time to clean it up and reset it.

[@suzannezovath7869]

I just finished one of your videos called Contrasts for Focal Points. You used oil paint. What kind of canvas did you use or do you recommend?

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

For studies, I recommend either sheet canvas or gessoed card stock. Studies are for learning, not for showing, so need not be archival. The least expensive way to go with sheet canvas is to purchase a roll of a gessoed tight weave cotton (such as Fredrix Style 70) and cut sheets to the size you want.

[@dawnreardon67]

Tell me the name of the paint set that you are using for your tip. I enjoy your tips very much .

[@rainerburmeister5758]

Looks like a WINSOR & NEWTON Professional WATER COLOUR Field Box .

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Dawn, this little set is the Winsor & Newton Cotman Field Box. I dumped the paint that came in it and restocked it with my own choices.

[@kimbalfre3759]

I have almost identical only in dark blue - Windsor and Newton Watercolour Travel Kits. I think they make them in student and professional grades.

[@dawnreardon67]

@@IntheStudioArtInstruction maybe that’s why I can only find it with watercolors only when I try to find gouache.

[@rupalimalhotra9585]

Dear Mam Can u teach me a simple tree with round brush. Thanks Rims1

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

I can teach you to see and to use techniques to give a visual description of what you are seeing.