Step 2: Block-in Basic Shapes
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The Layout
(Steps 1 through 7)
What the reader will find on these pages is, in fact, the very
painting approach communicated to me by Samuel Edmund Oppenheim
at the Art Students League some thirty-five years ago. I have
dressed it up a bit and added a few frills, but it is the same
direct, simple approach Mr. Oppenheim demonstrated for us in
those years. We begin by making a simple drawing, or "layout"
with the brush... |
Hover to zoom final painting |
| Now establish the basic outer shape of the head,
using rather straight lines. Don't put in any details. Strive
to establish the the general outer silhouette of the head by
means of simple, straightish lines. Check each angle. With a
few very simplified strokes of the brush, establish the outer
contour of the head. Don't miss the subtle gesture — the
inclination of the head. This shape is exactly life-size. This
is by far a better way to begin than the advice you sometimes
receive to start with an eye, or with a point between the eyes.
Here you are exerting positive control over the size of your
painting. If you start with an eye, and get it a little too
large, your entire painting will be too large. Again, take your
time with this step. What you are doing here is far more important
than anything which will follow. |
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