If an artist wants to be gin a painting, what does he do? We interviewed artist Chuck Rosenthal to get some insight into the creative process. He has no problem getting started with a new work of art, and probably has more ideas in his head than there will ever be time to paint on canvas. But he doesn't stare at the white canvas or consult a crystal ball.
A painting begins with choosing a subject to paint. Mr. Rosenthal paints comparably realistic scenes, so he chooses his subjects from life. He enjoys painting still life scenes, which gives him complete control over the placement of the subjects and the arrangement of the light on them. But he also paints people, beaches and landscapes. He says he likes to use a camera to photograph scenes to paint, but still sometimes struggles when trying to decide on a position from which to photograph a landscape.
He is always looking for something visually exciting - the people or building - the subjects themselves - or the way the light affects them at a certain time of day. As mentioned in an earlier article, contrasts of color and light and dark are what Chuck Rosenthal paintings are all about.
Mr. Rosenthal also mentioned things he kept in mind while searching for subjects and while painting: "I am influenced by very good painters when I seek to do anything. I picture the works that they have done and try to keep in mind those really fine works that I have seen when I'm working."
As for the next step, getting the paint on the canvas, Mr. Rosenthal said that he sometimes varies his methods from painting to painting. But the most usual way he begins is by drawing the large shapes with charcoal onto the canvas. He uses brush and paint to sketch in the larger dark shapes in the painting in the beginning.
He likes to work over the entire canvas at one time, as opposed to painting one small section and finishing a painting section by section. In order to get both dark and light tones to show up clearly on the canvas when he is painting, he used canvas that is not bright white, but a middle shade. He works from dark to light, applying the lightest paints last.
The painter lastly punches up the light tones of the painting. He said, "I'm always trying to find what might be called the "home-run" light in a painting, that part of the painting where you can really smush the light on, using lots of impasto and texture." As we think of light as something so ethereal and lighter than air, it may seem strange that a painter has to actually paint light. But they do.
To get more of an idea of how this artist paints, view some of his paintings. "Construction Workers, Clearwater, Florida" is a painting that clearly demonstrates the artist's concern with contrast and shapes of light and dark. Actually, any of his paintings show this - from his still life paintings, to children on the beach, to landscape scenes. We invite you to view them all. - 32160
A painting begins with choosing a subject to paint. Mr. Rosenthal paints comparably realistic scenes, so he chooses his subjects from life. He enjoys painting still life scenes, which gives him complete control over the placement of the subjects and the arrangement of the light on them. But he also paints people, beaches and landscapes. He says he likes to use a camera to photograph scenes to paint, but still sometimes struggles when trying to decide on a position from which to photograph a landscape.
He is always looking for something visually exciting - the people or building - the subjects themselves - or the way the light affects them at a certain time of day. As mentioned in an earlier article, contrasts of color and light and dark are what Chuck Rosenthal paintings are all about.
Mr. Rosenthal also mentioned things he kept in mind while searching for subjects and while painting: "I am influenced by very good painters when I seek to do anything. I picture the works that they have done and try to keep in mind those really fine works that I have seen when I'm working."
As for the next step, getting the paint on the canvas, Mr. Rosenthal said that he sometimes varies his methods from painting to painting. But the most usual way he begins is by drawing the large shapes with charcoal onto the canvas. He uses brush and paint to sketch in the larger dark shapes in the painting in the beginning.
He likes to work over the entire canvas at one time, as opposed to painting one small section and finishing a painting section by section. In order to get both dark and light tones to show up clearly on the canvas when he is painting, he used canvas that is not bright white, but a middle shade. He works from dark to light, applying the lightest paints last.
The painter lastly punches up the light tones of the painting. He said, "I'm always trying to find what might be called the "home-run" light in a painting, that part of the painting where you can really smush the light on, using lots of impasto and texture." As we think of light as something so ethereal and lighter than air, it may seem strange that a painter has to actually paint light. But they do.
To get more of an idea of how this artist paints, view some of his paintings. "Construction Workers, Clearwater, Florida" is a painting that clearly demonstrates the artist's concern with contrast and shapes of light and dark. Actually, any of his paintings show this - from his still life paintings, to children on the beach, to landscape scenes. We invite you to view them all. - 32160
