Aconfident and successful approach to detail begins with an ability to simplify early on. Using too many or too few details—and uncertainty about which surface characteristics to add—can make a work appear hesitant and unfinished. With only a few steps, you can identify, simplify and ultimately create the balance that best suits you. Here’s how:
At the beginning of any drawing or painting project, I will frequently squint at my subject. This simple action diminishes the appearance of most surface textures or details, revealing simple patterns of light and dark. These simple patterns describe the basic forms of my subject, and I draw them first.
Once these basic patterns are established, my squint relaxes, allowing for surface details slowly to become visible again. The manner in which the details become increasingly visible directly mimics the manner in which my drawing will develop. You can also determine which surface details are prominent, or perhaps more essential than others. Which surface characteristics become visible first as you
www.artistsmagazine.com ■ November 2008
In A Given Sacrifice (detail; charcoal on paper; 18x10), Omar Rodriguez, a student at the Waichulis Studio, has successfully rendered different degrees of detail for a variety of surface textures: a metal goblet, flower petals, drapery, rough and polished stones, coins, rope, paper and worn leather, and thorny twigs.
■ Anthony Waichulis won the 2006 certification as a “living master” by the Art Renewal Center and has established a national reputation for his trompe l’oeil paintings. An art instructor at his own atelier, the Waichulis Studio in Mocanaqua, Pennsylvania, he is represented by John Pence Gallery in San Francisco. Visit www.thewaichulis studio.net to see his art or learn about his atelier.
References:
http://www.artistsmagazine.com
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