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Overview
This art instruction manual was written for the aspiring to advanced artists, by a renowned master landscape painter and teacher, in oil, pastel, water color, and drawing techniques. Although this long time buried treasure, that Otis culminated in 1941, finally comes to light in February 2017, it is totally relevant for current artists desiring to enhance their artistic expression.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781490777412 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Trafford Publishing |
| Publication date: | 01/10/2017 |
| Pages: | 134 |
| Sales rank: | 433,354 |
| Product dimensions: | 8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.36(d) |
About the Author
George Demont Otis' training included teachers Robert Henri and John F. Carlson, and institutions of Art Insittute of Chicago, IL, Cooper Union, NY, and Woodstock School of Painting in NY.
According to Otis' autobiography part of his travels of 38 states included living and painting amongst 15 southwest American Indian tribes, where he wrote poems of their cultural ways. (Refer to page 102.)
Read an Excerpt
Landscape Painting ABC - XYZ
By George Demont Otis
Trafford Publishing
Copyright © 2017 Shirley MeloyAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4907-7741-2
CHAPTER 1
THE FINDER
The finder can be a plain dark-colored piece of cardboard, its proportions and size as pictured above, with the center space cut out leaving an opening. The opening is 1½" x 2¼", the margin about 1" wide. This opening is used in the selection of subject matter. It focuses on a part of nature, allowing for concentration of attention and eliminating much confusion.
When one has learned to use the finder properly, one finds that perplexing problems of perspective can often be solved easily. Make certain that the finder is held absolutely level, the bottom line of its opening a perfect horizontal. Closing one eye, look straight ahead through this opening, never raising or lowering the head or peeking out the sides of the opening. Hold the finder about 6" to 12½" away from the eye.
It is helpful to select some reference point within the scene, so that you can place the finder repeatedly in the same position. Use the edge of the opening or a corner of the finder for this purpose.
You may attach a silk thread from side to side and top to bottom of the finder, fastening it to the back side with tape and dividing the opening into four equal areas This thread will show the exact center of your subject and will help you to place the horizon line to best advantage. It will also help you to avoid putting focal points of interest at dead center, which is usually a compositional error. The threads, which have quartered your opening, may serve as guides for lines to be drawn across the surface on which you are working. This can also be divided into four equal parts. As a starter, use a pane no larger than I"' x 16", or 16" x 20" in size.
What you can see through the finder opening represents exactly what you may draw on the panel. Where an object touches the finder edge, it must also touch the panel edge in the same relative position. Where any mass crosses the thread in the finder, so it must likewise cross the corresponding line drawn on the panel. Of course, you are drawing only the outline of your subject with no shading until all lines, masses, and forms have been clearly defined. In the process of drawing what you see through the opening, do not raise or lower the finder, as you did in the selection of the subject.
Study all sections of the scenes about you, moving your body with the finder. When you turn to look to the side, searching for another part of the subject, turn your whole body also, not just your head. Seek to understand the finder and its possibilities. Choose simple subject matter that impresses you favorably in some way. Often you will meet a large group of trees and find one more outstanding and more to your liking than all the others. Therefore, the one and not the group impress you. So you set out to draw or paint his particular tree and forget about the others. Elimination of everything in a scene, which is not pleasing or essential to your purpose, is what we will call using "the big axe."
For a perspective example, select a barn or house. Now place the upper edge of the finder opening on the extreme top of the roof, holding the finder level. Look along that line and see how it runs downward. Place the finder again at the base of the house or barn and see how that line runs upwards. Remember that all lines above the eye level run downward and all lines below the eye level run upward.
You may also use the finder as an upright. In this way, the graceful curves of tree trunks and the swing of leafage in massed formations are easily understood. Turns in a road, bends in a river, creek, etc., fall into position as you make comparisons with the straight lines of the finder's opening.
Stand in a roadway, look through the finder and see how that roadway runs upward. Curves of this road have perspective; the finder shows that plainly, besides showing how much they wind. You duplicate the same line on your panel and produce truthfully what only a trained eye could do. To a student, these same curves would be a problem without the finder, for the eye is not yet capable of determining these curves in correct relation to perspective. When you become an experienced artist, you may still want to use the finder; though, of course, it can be dispensed with.
Cloud formations and proportions of various kinds of clouds, where to place them, and the amount of space they should occupy are also easy to determine. Long stretches of sandy beaches, as seen from an elevation, can be studied most advantageously with the finder. Another exercise is to place the upper inside edge of the finder opening on a rolling range of foothills, mountains, etc., to see exactly how much of a curve is presented against the straight line of the picture border.
The page of illustrations shows how to use the finder in selection of subject matter. Consider example "A", the large panorama, as the subject you have encountered. Looking through the finder opening, we observe that this scene covers much territory, and even a well-advanced student or an experienced artist would need to take some time to paint it. Therefore, we would say it is not a subject to be considered when one is a beginner. After isolating various sections of it with the finder, we see that this same expansive scene contains many smaller pictures, parts of the whole, each in itself carrying an intimate interest, more simple in arrangement, yet all positive compositions. Six examples are shown, but others could be discovered.
Assume that "B" through "G" are actually panel sizes to which we wish to make the various sections of "A" conform. Notice the shapes of the panels selected, "B", "C", "D", "E", "F", and "G", and remember the finder you are using is a positive oblong opening in shape. Now, to arrive at any of these proportions, for example "E" which is about square, just proceed to lay a pencil over part of the finder opening until you have reduced it to a square. You can also use a finger or a card, etc., to alter the opening sizes. By moving the pencil, etc., you can have various desired shapes. The position of objects, whether near or far from the eye, depends on your personal preference.
Of the six examples shown, the choice for the student would be one that gives the best contrasts of line, form and color. A good selection might be "E", a lone tree almost in silhouette against a sky of blue. "D" would be a splendid one to try on the next lesson, for it has more pictorial qualifications, along with fine contrasts.
A step forward in advance of the others, "C" would be one in which values and the handling of line would need careful study. This offers greater distance and a wider breadth with background hills subtle and close in values. You will find that in each and every one of these small fragments there is an individual color scheme. Certain desirable elements will be brought out in each which could be overlooked were you to attempt the whole panorama marked "A".
A study of this character is most advisable for the beginning student. It is a sure way to advance rapidly and it will help to avoid discouragement at the start of one's work. Following the completion of all six or more studies one would be in full possession of an understanding of the whole scheme of example "A". The peephole in the right edge of the finder will help you isolate the exact color wanted when a profusion of color surrounds the area selected.
CHAPTER 2PERSPECTIVE
In the illustration,
"A" is an example of perspective in trees.
"B" is an example of perspective in birds.
"C" is an example of perspective in clouds.
"D" is an example of perspective in a road or rail tracks.
"E" is an example of perspective in buildings.
"F" is the vanishing point explained.
"G" is the vanishing point of a building.
"H" is the horizon line from which the shed is seen.
"I" is a fence.
Perspective is one of the most important elements in realistic drawing. In painting, there is a diminution, or gradation, of tints and colors; in drawing, there is the coming together or narrowing down of lines to a vanishing point so that objects converge at a place on or off the canvas. In instances where the vanishing point is off the canvas, one can easily work to that point with knowledge of perspective.
To make a work artistic rather than architectural, knowledge of perspective is still required, for decorative variations should retain the truth of line. For example, although one sees the roof of an old house or barn as a straight line, it can be drawn as somewhat sagging or swayback while still following correct perspective. What is in reality a straight line and monotonous can be made more interesting in your picture and can show the effects of time and the elements. In "B", observe that the largest bird is the highest as well as the nearest.
In "C" the clouds overhead are largest and roundest. As they diminish, they become flat and finally just line. Perspective in painting should be used so that it does not appear too architectural, especially in instances where severity of line could create ugliness. The best way of handling perspective is to keep it sensed but not too evident. A vital thing to keep in mind is that all lines below the eye level run upward and all lines above the eye level run downward. This fact will guide you through problems of perspective. In the early study of composition, it is a fine practice to seek problems of perspective and solve them on paper with a pencil and your finder. After your eyes have been trained to comprehend things as they are, then you may add what you know to what you see.
CHAPTER 3DRAWING
The soul of art is in the drawing. To paint well, you must be an able draftsman. A good drawing is the very foundation of art. Learn to draw well and painting will become much easier, with only problems of color to be solved after drawing has been mastered. The urge to draw is inherent in most of us. Give a child a pencil and a scrap of paper, and you need not tell him what to do. He will begin to draw at once.
If you wish to undertake painting seriously, start with simple forms in drawing, trying to put down visual facts as they are and using the finder as a guide. Daily practice in drawing, say one hour a day for a period of a few months, will bring a surprising proficiency. Keep the thought of drawing continually before you, and when the time comes to begin painting, you will be fortified with a good understanding of the foundation. Drawing creatively means that you choose a subject whose pictorial possibilities have excited you and that you work with a preconceived plan to depict an expressive quality, a special characteristic of that subject, and your own personal response to your material. A fine drawing is more likely to be an individual comment rather than a slavish, photographic copy of what the eye sees.
Many black and white drawings require no color to improve them. A great drawing has a singular beauty and individuality all its own, and there are times when color could spoil it. One quarter of a drawing well done has more merit than a finished one poorly executed. No element in either painting or drawing can be neglected without reducing its worth in the end.
There is a time in many lives when the desire to paint becomes paramount. A painting outfit is acquired, with colors, about which little are known, and inferior brushes that a knowledgeable artist would never use. But the purchase and the entire effort are premature. It would be far wiser to get a set of excellent pencils and tablets and to develop a proficiency in drawing which would give to future paintings a quality that they might otherwise lack. In the early stages of study, one should choose simple subject matter only, as objects of still life such as cups, books, fruits, flowers, etc. Try to learn well the texture of various surfaces, the feeling of china, wood, velvet, paper, vegetables, copper, glass, leather, and plants.
The best equipment for a beginner consists of a good drawing pad about 9" x 12"; two pencils kept well sharpened, a No. I and a No. 2, one soft and one medium; a stool and a well proportioned finder. With this outfit, set out to draw, finding subject matter by looking through the finder and using only fragments of nature instead of trying to portray some large panorama in a cramped space.
A drawing need not be large; preferably it should be small. At first, use only one-quarter the space of a 9" x 12" page. Block in outlines in order to learn properly the divisions of light on objects. Make mental notes, using the finder as a guide. Compare masses, deviation of line, form and facts as they unfold in the study. Retain the meaning of these lessons, which will come in handy as you progress. Every illustration indicates an approach to composition or an interpretation of nature.
A well-drawn object needs no color. When good color is applied over poor lines, both the line and the color suffer for there are no means by which to improve a thing where a foundation for improvement is absent. The value of line is evident in all branches of painting. Though sometimes skillfully covered with charming color, it is never lost to one who has had experience in drawing and has the ability to sense real beauty.
When any work of art has been lifted by its merits above the ordinary, it becomes a consolation to the doer, for he knows as well as the spectator that he has conquered obstacles. Skill in any of the arts is obtainable only by adapting oneself to a given situation, analyzing and studying it carefully and making an effort to gain all practical knowledge that is available. Apply common sense to overcome difficulties one by one, and seek the strength, which results from consistent application and tireless labor. Haste and eager desires do not speed progress.
Where line is a major factor in any work, much stress can be given to curves, for when curves are graceful they "sing" to the spectator. Handled as a master uses them in a fine painting, they add grace and charm to the most commonplace subject matter. You will note that the master places his curves not as part of a circle but rather as free and independent sweeps of line. When you see soldiers in parade formation, for instance a whole regiment coming down a thoroughfare, all erect with guns on shoulders held in the same position, you could scarcely single out any one soldier in particular. But if there happens to be one who is slightly hump-backed or stoop-shouldered, you would immediately notice him, for this is an example of curvature made possible by comparison.
Avoid all lines that lead the eye out of a composition, such as paths, roads, creeks, etc., that go off to one side or the other. They are considered bad lines. Keep these paths within the picture. Avoid placing the main object in the center of your drawing, equidistant from the sides, the top or bottom.
When one has attained skill in drawing and can most capably make a fine, well-proportioned outline in pencil or charcoal, one may then advance by adding shading of masses and gradation to the study. This brings knowledge of values and allows one to finish a drawing completely. Often shading will alleviate confusion of line. After one can definitely and skillfully produce works in black and white, one is prepared for painting. The better one understands this fundamental, the more suited will one be to start painting, for one has then established a few of the A B C's.
If at first you experience difficulties in drawing the contour of tree tops, then a good plan is to draw the under parts of the tree masses where they are attached to the limbs of the tree that support them. Having completed this step, you may proceed to draw the tops to conform to the lines below, and the proportions will be better. Always bear in mind that it is the truth of line, which will show the specie of a particular tree.
It is not a good policy to give away, sell, or dispose of any drawing or painting, which you know is not your best effort. Those receiving this may proceed to frame the work, and later, after you become more proficient, you would not want to be judged by something inferior or a picture done before you reached the point of being able to criticize your own efforts. However, you should always save your early work, which can be a record of progress made.
When drawing, keep your lead pencils at their best, always sharp and with plenty of lead showing. Provide yourself with a sandpaper block, which is used for pointing pencils or charcoal.
When a student has arrived at a stage in drawing where he feels his competence and can go a long way with very little or no erasing, there is available to him a fine medium for drawing call Blaisdel's Grease Pencil. This pencil line can not be erased, so you should begin by making a skeleton drawing with a hard pencil, say No. 3 as a starter. The paper must be of a suitable texture (Cameo paper if you can get it). The grease pencil produces deep black masses, pleasing medium tones and delicate grays.
There is another medium which is a continuation of drawing, but with the addition of color, and that is pastel. This splendid medium is adaptable to any subject matter. It is used extensively in portraiture, but is also excellent for landscape, either in quick field studies or in highly finished paintings. It is extremely durable and will last for centuries if properly cared for. Do not spray pastels with fixative because this may dull the colors. It is advisable to frame them under non-reflective glass.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Landscape Painting ABC - XYZ by George Demont Otis. Copyright © 2017 Shirley Meloy. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword by Dr. Kevin Starr, California State Librarian Emeritus,Introduction by Mr. Otis' great niece, Shirley Hartley Meloy,
Preface by the author, George Demont Otis Teachers and Institutes of Training,
Chapter 1 The Finder, 3,
Chapter 2 Perspective, 7,
Chapter 3 Drawing, 9,
Chapter 4 Form, 15,
Chapter 5 Crating, 17,
Chapter 6 Line of Beauty, 19,
Chapter 7 Roads and Entrances The Letter "S", 21,
Chapter 8 Elements of Design, 22,
Chapter 9 Proportions, 24,
Chapter 10 Decorative Tree Design, 25,
Chapter 11 Repetition, 28,
Chapter 12 Continuity of Line, 29,
Chapter 13 Law of Principality, 31,
Chapter 14 Undulation, 33,
Chapter 15 Laws of Interchange, 34,
Chapter 16 Rejections, 35,
Chapter 17 Concentration, 36,
Chapter 18 Values, 38,
Chapter 19 Echoes, 40,
Chapter 20 Curvature, 42,
Chapter 21 Piers of Painting, 44,
Chapter 22 The Vista (Gateway), 46,
Chapter 23 Radiation, 49,
Chapter 24 Ballast, 50,
Chapter 25 Composition, 52,
Chapter 26 Equipment, 53,
Chapter 27 Analysis of Our Palette, 56,
Chapter 28 The Wash and Painting Procedures, 64,
Chapter 29 Drawing and Painting Hints, 65,
Chapter 30 Brush Practice and Technical Points, 69,
Chapter 31 Reflections, Boats and Water, 70,
Chapter 32 Sketching and Painting From Nature, 72,
Chapter 33 Color Practice, 77,
Chapter 34 Glazes and Scumbles, 79,
Chapter 35 Quality, 81,
Chapter 36 Moonlight Painting, 83,
Chapter 37 Still Life Painting, 86,
Chapter 38 Marine Painting, 90,
Chapter 39 Harmony, 93,
Chapter 40 Drama or Animation, 96,
Chapter 41 Rested Motion, 98,
Chapter 42 Personal Experiences and Advice, 100,
Chapter 43 A Review of Essential Principles and a Primer on Drawing and Painting, 104,
Chapter 44 Final Thoughts, 109,
Appendices,
In Conclusion, 110,
Autobiography, 111,
George Demont Otis was my Teacher, 113,
Exhibits in which George Demont Otis Participated, 118,
Organizations in which Otis was Affiliated, 123,
References to George Demont Otis, 124,
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