The other day I was chatting with some students about the magic that happens when we combine making a mark making and texture in our paintings.
It's so much more than just slapping paint on canvas, you know?
1. Mark Making and Texture:
The importance of choosing the right mark making technique for conveying emotion and story in a painting.
Experimenting with textures through layered brushstrokes, medium additions, and varying pressure.
Observing how artists like Mary Cassatt and Sargent used texture to create depth and visual interest.
2. Color Application:
The difference between using transparent and opaque colors and the impact on achieving desired effects.
Adding medium to opaque colors when thinning them for specific brushstrokes.
Being cautious about product recommendations from companies due to potential bias.
3. Artistic Influences:
Discussing the works of artists like Mary Cassatt, Sergeant, and Roy Lichtenstein as examples of effective mark making and color application.
Brushstrokes and Experimenting
Choosing the right brushstrokes, experimenting with layers, adding mediums – all these things contribute to telling a story, conveying an emotion, building depth in your artwork. Artists like Mary Cassatt and Sargent used texture and a layering of paint and painting techniques which created a beautiful life to their paintings.
Cassatt's soft, delicate brushwork captured the tenderness of her subjects, while Sargent's thick impasto added a sense of energy and movement to his landscapes. If you look closely, you will see the variation of not just types of marks each artist made but also the variation of depth from thin washes to glazes, to playing those thin areas against thick impasto areas.
Of course, color is another essential element in this equation. We were discussing the difference between transparent and opaque colors – how using transparent layers can create luminous effects, while opaque colors offer bold, solid statements. There is an intensity that some transparent colors can achieve that few if any opaque colors can match. There is a place and time for both.
*And remember, thinning your opaque colors with mediums can completely change their texture and application! Just be cautious about those product recommendations from companies – sometimes a little bias sneaks in.
We also looked at the works of Roy Lichtenstein for inspiration. His use of bold lines and flat planes of color is instantly recognizable, proving that even simple mark making can be incredibly powerful when executed with intention.
This conversation really highlighted how subjective art is.
There's no single "right" way to approach mark making or texture. It's all about finding what works best for you, experimenting, and developing your own unique voice. So go out there, grab your brushes, and enjoy!
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