HOW TO PAINT

BY ARTHUR ZAIDENBERO
A WORLD-FAMOUS ART TEACHER'S SIMPLIFIED,
STEP-BY-STEP MANUAL FOR BEGINNING PAINTERS

WANT TO PAINT!
WHY YOU BOUGHT THIS BOOK

OF COURSE YOU
THAT'S

Let Arthur Zaidenberg take you by the hand as he has

thousands of beginning painters and show you the short

and positive inspirations that

cuts

way you want

will

make you

paint the

to paint!

There's no mystery, says Arthur Zaidenberg, about painting.

Anyone can
you

paint. Just apply the simple,

no-nonsense rules

find in this book.

And

worth ten thousand words, here are

show you each step: from painting
a nude in oils to an exotic landscape in water color plus
the glorious, unknown figures and scenes that are unique
to your own imagination
if

one picture

is

scores of pictures that

IT'S

EASY!

IT'S

FUN!

IT'S

STIMULATING!

ARTHUR ZAIDENBERG

THE CELEBRATED ARTIST WHO HAS TAUGHT MORE

PEOPLE HOW TO PAINT THAN ANY LIVING TEACHER.
HE IS EXHIBITED NATIONALLY, HAS WRITTEN OVER A
DOZEN BOOKS ON ART AND HAS FORTY-SIX MURALS ON
DISPLAY IN PUBLIC PLACES AROUND THE COUNTRY.
IS

HOW TO
PAINT
by Arthur Zaidenberg
^^^^^ Oo^

HOW

A Bantam Book

TO PAINT
/

Published July 1965

Library of Congress Catalog Card

Number: 65-20345

All rights reserved.

Copyright

1965 by Bantam Books, Inc.

Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada.

Bantam Books

Bantam Books, Inc., a subsidiary

Its trade-mark, consisting of the words
the portrayal of a bantam, is registered in the
United States Patent Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada.
Bantam Books, Inc., 271 Madison Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10016.

of Grosset

&

are published by

Dunlap, Inc.

"Bantam Books" and

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

CONTENTS
Foreword

Choosing a "Style"

YOUR STUDIO

13

Your Studio Light Your

Cups Brushes and Knives

Easel

Your

Palette

Palette

OILS

23

Color Choosing Colors for Your Oil-Paint

Glazes The Color Wheel Canvas Drawing
Drawing on the Canvas What to Paint? Values
Brush Strokes

Oil Painting
Palette

HEADS, LIMBS
Heads

AND FEATURES

43

Painting Features

FIGURES

65

Painting the

Nude

A Series of Figure Studies

Clothing

STILL LIFE
Still

Life

91
Light

LANDSCAPES

Composition

101

Landscape Painting Let's Paint a Landscape

Rollers Abstract and Non-Objective

WATER COLORS

Paint

133

The Wet Method

Combined Wet and Dry Painting

Water Colors

Dry-Paper Painting

Drawing for WaterColor Painting Water-Color Pencils and Crayons Casein

FOREWORD
The evidence of our art heritage proves that the creative
impulse has been part of man since prehistoric days. To
express in the universal language of painting things unsayable in words is obviously a primal urge. To be able to
say things that are unique and distinctive and yet intelligible to others gives indescribable satisfaction, only to be
understood by those who are painters themselves.
The pleasurable

physical process of painting

hard to describe. But

it

is

is

common knowledge

equally

that tired,

men like Churchill and Eisenhower have found

refuge and renewed energy in this activity. There are many
other examples of busy men and women who have found
time to devote to this exacting pleasure.

driven

It would almost seem that painting is a part of living.

That it is related to the basic emotional functions is evidenced by the excitement in the doing and the response
evoked by the art produced.

Why
flat

does

this

curious activity of applying pigment to a

surface, using a stick with hairs at the end,

entice
ticles

so

many amateurs and

professionals?

seem

Recent

to
ar-

on the subject indicate that there are some eight

million adult painters in the United States. In France,

it

is

estimated that one out of every ten people is an amateur

painter. If you include children among the paint addicts,
many more millions are added.

Obviously there
to

overcome

The expense

the
is

is

many

compulsion

suflficiently

nuisances involved

certainly not negligible.

in

powerful

the process.

The paraphernalia

complex and cumbersome. The monetary rewards for

the finished product are so small and uncertain as to make
is

the

choice of a professional career

ticable to the point of naivete.

in

painting

imprac-

joy of painting is not unmixed with pain, but here

but inexplicable truth. None of these negative
considerations has prevented the steady flow to art schools

The

is

the

all

of eager students bent on a career in art, and the everincreasing number of delighted amateurs giving up their
entire spare time to painting.

good life and is its own reward,

not renounce the belief that the
artist rates tangible rewards in the form of legal tender for
groceries. If measured by the pleasure he gives to others,
his reward in this respect should be considerable. A second-

The

though

creative life
I

is

for one will

ary reward gratifying enough to be earnestly sought

when

is

the

good work is created. But

simply in terms of the happiness to be found in the act
of creating, whatever the quality of the work, the rewards
praise of the perceptive

are immeasurable.

CHOOSING A "STYLE'
This book will not take a stand in favor of any "school"
1 cannot deny that my own preferences are
strong. So are those of every painter
otherwise he would
not paint. We are all impelled to paint the way we see
things, and each of us sees things with a highly personal
eye. If we ignore our individuality in our work it lacks
an essence which makes it creative. Influence can be
healthy if it adds knowledge and understanding to the
innate creative impulse. But if the influence is so strong
as to become emulation rather than a constructive force
added to your own vision, then it is a bad influence.
There are many schools of painting. Each has some
validity or it would never have found adherents. The fact
that a number of artists have allied themselves with this
or that school of painting indicates that it has qualities
worthy of your interest. That interest should not take the
form of thoughtless ridicule no matter how "different"
and extreme the school appears at first glance. Nor should
your acceptance of any special art trend be slavish and
uncritical just because the trend is striking and facile. In
the early stages of the student's development he is easily
awed by the technical skill exhibited by professional artists.
Skill is a desirable ingredient for you to acquire, but far
more important is a distinctive viewpoint your own.
Skills have a way of growing with practice. Dexterity inevitably follows familiarity with the use of the materials
of the artist's craft, but the nurturing of a purely personal
of painting.

expression

is

not helped by emulation of someone

else's

style.

Look at pictures, love them, learn from them, but don't

copy either their style or technique. Above all do not
acquire second-hand emotions. Your own are rich enough
as a source of expression. Search them out honestly, express them intensely, add your skill and what you have
learned from the best of sources outside yourself and you
will paint fine pictures.

In view of the fact that it is always hard to get two

people to agree completely about anything, it would certainly be a presumption on my part to state categorically
what is "good" and "bad" in art and to expect unquestion8

must suffice.
During the Victorian Era there were powerful academies
with restricted memberships which laid down rules for
students in the schools they represented. These rules were
arbitrary. Art was a definable entity. Its excellence was
measurable in terms of the proficiency with which academic rules were followed. "Nature" was the ideal of
beauty and the function of the artist was to simulate it.
The only leeway allowed was a choice between concentrating on the "real" or on the poetic, the earthy or the
ethereal. But at all times, whatever the choice, the "natman and his visible earth had to be deural" materials
picted even if the painting were of heaven. The fact that
there are inner visions was ignored by these academies as
being unworthy of the painter. -His dreams had to be reing acceptance. Generalities

wide-awake.
That good and even great pictures were painted under

stricted to the substance of the

these arbitrary restrictions

true that
flights

many

quite true.

is

It is

also probably

great visions were stifled, and magnificent

of fancy suppressed.

Modern painting has broken this tradition and each artist is now free to search for his own means of expression.
From my point of view this is how it should be.
But, by the

same token, the abandonment of

rules has led to the loss of positive

of what

restrictive

measures of judgment
While this leaves the

is
"good" and "bad" art.
suspended in mid-air, which I think not undesirable,
it
also leaves art instruction perhaps equally suspended.
Gone are the days when the art professor could dominate his students by the weight of his academic honors
and Jong art experience to the point where they all wanted
to do what he did, and consequently did as he said.
The present-day art teacher has had to acquire a humility which is good for him as well as for his students. He
can no longer pontificate on one method of creative expression and leave the room, confident that his words will
have effective results in the form of acceptable paintings
by docile students. Now every suggestion is open to chal-

critic

lenge and debate, and for that very reason

is

so

It

is

much

the better.

The process
change of

of teaching

ideas.

is

The teacher

ru:)t

unilateral.

an ex-

brings his mature taste and

long experience to the searching student. Acceptance of

\
9

n
some

things, rejection of others, questioning of

sirable.
is

During

this process

beneficial to both student

some or
benefit,

the

if

de-

shall

present

methods

The student may

reject

the process he will inevitably

only in the strengthening of his convictions. On

all

other

their application.

of these, but

is

and teacher.

In the course of these pages

and examples of

all

an alchemy takes place which

hand, should

and the work shown

to his profit

but

in

he

find

to his taste,

only

if

the

methods suggested

he

may emulate them

he retains a searching attitude.

For I am the first to admit that there are other methods

and visions of equal or greater validity. Try them in addition to these. Most important of all, find some of your own.
Study the approaches shown and notice how each has a
different impact due to differences in method and medium.
In making these comparative studies, it is not suggested
that you emulate the techniques; rather try to acquire an
understanding of the technical elements

in

each variant,

which make for a different impact.

Experiment constantly with different paint media.
know no artist who has not tried virtually every painting
material before choosing the one he considered best
adapted to his individual requirements.
Having chosen the media whether it be oil, water color,
tempera or any of the many new additions to the painter's
1

paraphernalia
the artist then experiments endlessly with
means of applying that chosen media in such a way

the

tell his special paint story most effectively.

There are many pitfalls involved in this experimentation. The artist must not be so intrigued by superficial

as to

surface brilliance as to
scures the far

make

more important

it

the small virtue that ob-

aspects of his creative effort.

Nor must he be

so frugal in the use of the beautiful matewith which he works that he neglects the exquisite
possibilities inherent in the pigments in favor of telling the
rials

story.

There was a time when the separation of the painting

media was academically dictated and an artist was in-

known as an "oil painter" or a "water-colorist"

or a "black and white" artist. His work was accordingly
assigned to special compartments in galleries, each to his
own, and almost mutually antagonistic.
Modern painting, along with its many other freeing
evitably

10

broke these arbitrary barriers.

aspects,

odically

show

portant

point

Now

artists

peri-

or several of the different media, each

medium chosen with an eye to its unique possibilities.
In the galleries and museums the artist is no longer relegated to restricted areas. Painting style has become the imin all

of

reference

and

classification

not

the

medium and technique employed.

It can only be suggested that procedure on techniques
might be as follows.
Should your picture requirements call for translucency
and lightness of touch, the choice of your medium should
be the one most capable of achieving this end. Washes
or diluted pigment flowed on thinly and spontaneously
would probably be more effective than opaque thicknesses

of paint.

Water colors would be the obvious choice for such efI would like to point out that translucent brilliance can also be achieved with glazes of oil paint. The
decision to use one or the other must depend on personal
preference and taste.
Monumental and dramatic strength might need the use
of heavy oil paints, opaque gouaches or tempera colors, but

forts but

the desired effect can also be achieved by using colored

The result depends on

medium the technique

inks.

the

the

method of application of

of telling the story. This in-

cludes such wide elements as composition, relation of

forms, dynamics of brush stroke, choice of color, and
so on.
If, therefore, I do not launch into a set of rules for the
use of each media of painting, if you do not find here an
exact formula for the quantity of water to add to a given
quantity of pigment to arrive at a definite end, I can only

answer that

my

instruction lies in just such an omission.

The hunt-and-peck system, while not a desirable approach

if you wish to be a speed typist, is an ideal study system
if you wish to be a painter. Discover by exploration that

medium
Make

is your servant and not your

you by overcoming its resistance
a relatively easy task if approached without fear and
with conviction in what you wish to say.

each

master.

of painting

it

work

for

11

12

YOUR STUDIO
a

Whether you are

a professional or an

proper work area

is

room

small

possible.

amateur painter,

a very important consideration.

is adequate but it should be as light as

north light is best because it is even and clear

throughout the day.

It

is

best not to

furniture,
painter,

it

draperies,
is

work

in

room with easily damaged

Even if you are a neat

or carpets.

handicap

to

worry about possible spatters

of paint on valuable things. Moreover, a

room

especially

devoted to painting does not require you to put away all

the paraphernalia of painting each time you quit for the
day. The tiresome process of reassembling your many
paint tools might at times make you decide not to paint
when you actually feel like doing so.
The tools of the painter are many and bulky. You will
need room to store canvases and paintbox, bottles and
brushes. You require space for an easel, a painting stool,
and a table for your palette and brushes. You may need
a model stand or at least a table for your still life set-up.
If

room

suitable for a studio

set off a portion of a

which no other

living

room

is

not available, try to

as a painting section,

affairs

may

one

in

intrude.

LIGHT
North

light is steady and even. If possible, place your

near a north-light window and pose your still life,
or whatever you wish to paint, near that source of light.
Put all your painting materials on a table close at hand.
Cover the floor around and under your easel with

easel

newspaper or an old rug

14

to save the floor.

N.

-v^

\
^.,

15

71

YOUR EASEL
There is on the market a wide range of easels varying in
and cost. Huge studio easels of heavy wood, sturdy
enough for very large canvases, are available. These run
to several hundred dollars. Simple tripods of wood with
peg holes and pegs for raising or lowering your canvas
cost only a few dollars. Between is a whole collection of
variously designed wood and metal easels, folding or nonsize

folding.

Choose one to
you plan to use.

size of canvas
an easel that allows the canvas tD
sit vertically, rather than the lean-back type. Above all the
easel should be firm.
suit

your pocket and the

like

16

YOUR PALETTE
The

palette

is

the beginning area of the creative act of

painting.

On
from

it

are ranged the pure pigments as they are squeezed

commercially prepared oil-paint tubes. Your

choice of these tubes will depend on your own tastes and
special requirements as you develop your technique and
widen your scope as a painter.^ In pages to follow, a basic
range of tube colors will be suggested.
the

Here we

will discuss the use of the palette

as a

work

area.

There are available many varieties of palette. The romantic, classical, curved palette, with beauty comparable
to the contours of a violin, is both expensive and cumbersome. It is also hard to clean and, for purposes of experimental painting and study, a decorative nuisance. A glass
or porcelain slab is inexpensive and easily cleaned. Paper
palette pads are sold in art supply shops; they are made
of waxed paper and are quite serviceable. When an oil
sketch has been completed, the page may be torn from
the palette pad and disposed of. A clean surface awaits
your next effort.
Colors are mixed directly on the palette by picking up a
dab from two or more of the pigments ranged along the
edge of the palette and mixing them together, on the large
area in tjie center of the palette, with a palette knife or the
brush which will carry the resultant blend to the canvas.
When the pigments require more fluidity than they have
when they are squeezed from the tube, the artist dips his
17

'^K'

CANVAS PANEL

WOOD PALETTE

PALETTE!

CUPS
BRISTC

BRUSHES

CHARCOAL

GLASS PALETTE

CURVED PALETTE

SABLE BRUSHES

'%*:

PAPER
PALETTE PAD

PALETTE KNIVES

brush

one or both of the twin cups clipped to the

hnseed oil or turpentine or a mix-

in

palette edge, containing

of both

ture

be discussed in later pages in

will be applied to the mixture
and transferred to the canvas.
Some painters like to hold the palette in the left hand
during painting.
find it more relaxing to rest my palette

more

(these

will

This liquid

detail).

on the work
Oil paint

table.
is

sold in prepared tubes.

It

is

about the same

thickness as toothpaste.

This paste
use

it

as

it

turpentine to
If

is

ready for spreading on canvas.

comes from

make

the tube, or

you may

more easily.
enough, it becomes very much
it

You may

dilute

it

with

flow

you dilute it
and you may float
you don't dilute the

on

like

water

transparent ''washes."
If
paint, you may put it on in thick
layers with a brush or a palette knife without any liquid

color,

it

in

at all.

You may combine

two methods:

thin washes of
and thick smears
of pasty, creamy paint as it comes from the tube.
When you have set up your canvas and set out your
painting materials, you are ready to prepare your palette

the

diluted (thinned with turpentine)

paint,

for painting.

Squeeze out small dabs of paint in an orderly pattern

around the outer edge of the palette.

PALETTE CUPS
Twin cups should be

clipped to the edge of your palette.

oils, turpentine, var-

These are for the liquid "media''

or the many other liquid preparations

tured for special uses with the pigments.
Each liquid has special properties.
nishes

20

manufac-

For our purposes now, because we are dealing with first,

I suggest that only
two liquids be used.
They are linseed oil in one cup and rectified turpentine in
basic problems,

the other.

The turpentine

is

used essentially as a thinner, to give

the thick pigment a freer flowing quality.

The amount

of

pigment should never be to the point that

it causes the paint to "run" in wet streams on your canvas.
Oil medium in the other cup helps give fluidity and also
enriches the body of the pigments, giving them that glowdilution of the

ing freshness so typical of oil paintings.

BRUSHES AND KNIVES

The actual application of the oil colors to canvas is doneor both.
with either brushes or palette knives
Bristle brushes, with square, rounded or pointed ends,
are most commonly- used. The hairs are strong and stringy,
and the thick pigment may be pressed onto the canvas
with strong strokes.
Sable brushes are also used m oil painting. They are
made of fine hairs and are very soft. This is for smooth,

soft painting.

You

will soon find your preferences for either bristle or

Try them both.
You will need about six brushes of various sizes. If
cared for by cleaning after each use, they will last a long

sable.

Good brushes are expensive but a worth-while investment. Cheap brushes have a tendency to lose their
hair or spread apart. In the end they cost more. In buying
time.

brushes, test their spring and see that the metal grip is
on the wooden handle and holds the hairs tightly.
Palette knives are springy, metal paint applicators. They

firm

wooden handles. The end of the

usually of very springy tempered steel.

are steel blades set in

knife

is

21

OILS^

OIL PAINTING
The impression

prevails that oil painting

is

so difficult

had better learn the use of water color

and other paint media before oils should be attempted.
Actually, oil paints are far more simple to handle than
water color. The process of using them is less dependent
that the student

on spontaneity. Oils allow for slow, careful application if

desired, and the slow-drying properties of oils permit
changes and blending at leisure. Re-examination for possible elimination of passages which are not entirely satisfactory

always possible.

is

pigment
thinness.

ness as will give physical

flow

it

In

addition,

the

may be used opaquely or diluted

You can almost model the paint

on

body

to

rich

heavy

to water-color

in such thickyour painting, or you can

in thin glazes.

Oil paint

is

permanent,

is

proven so by the

still

brilliant,

hundreds-of-years-old paintings which we have with us

today. It is by far the most popular medium for creative
paintings.

do not wish to suggest that it is easy to paint well in

1 do think that anyone can learn to use them with
ease and fluency. And no one has exhausted the range of
this fine medium. If you examine all the paintings in oil
in your local museum or gallery you will see how differI

oils.

The
work and color mixtures vary with each

ently each painter applies the paint.

and the

results

are quite different.

thickness, brush-

individual

Brush-stroking

artist,
is

in-

evitably as individual as penscript.

Before commercial color manufacturers began to put

paints into tubes for sale to the public, each artist

oil

had to

own powder color and mix it with oil and binders

was of a consistency suitable for application to
canvas. It was a cumbersome process, tedious and diffi-

grind his
until

it

cult.

Nowadays we have

excellent colors available in tubes

very wide range. The fluidity and consistency of the
paste is nicely uniform, ready for use. The different hues
are labeled accurately, and tolor charts are available to
in a

you in making your choice.

There are few hindrances for the would-be painter

aid

either in the availability or in the character of oil paints.

24

COLOR
Everyone has his own taste in color. You may love red
and hate yellow.
If 1 were to tell you exactly what colors to use, these
might be the ones you like least, and your own special
tastes should come first. You are a painter, and a painter
must be himself at all times.
What I can do is show you how to get the colors you
want.

There are three "primary colors." These are the basic

from which most other colors can be made.
By mixing any two of these primary colors, a third
color is made.
Here is a list of the primary colors and the mixtures
derived from them.
The three primary colors are: Red, Yellow, Blue.
If you mix equal quantities of red and blue you will
colors

get violet.

you mix yellow and blue equally, you will get green.
you mix red and yellow equally, you will get orange.
When you mix any of the two primary colors unequally,
that is, more of one color than the other, the tint will lean
more toward the color of larger quantity.
For instance:
If you mix two parts of red with one part of blue, you
will have reddish-purple.
Two parts of blue with one of yellow will make blueIf

If

green.

Two

parts of yellow with one part of red will

make

yel-

low-orange.
Practice will teach you

exactly the shades

how

to

mix colors

until

you

get

you want.

To mix cleanly, take your palette knife and, with its

springy end, pick up a dab of color from the line of colors
on your

palette.

down again closer to

Wipe your knife with your paint
Put

it

color dab and mix

the center of the palette.

rag.

Now

pick up another

color with your knife

on your palette. As you mash the two pasty colors together,
they will cease to be what they were and become a new
color, ready for

it

with the

first

your brush.
25

Color is something so personal that no one can

exactly what color to use where.

tell

you.

For instance, a leaf is green, but in certain lights, or next;,

to certain other colors, that green seems brighter or moresubdued,
leaf

is

or serious.

When you

the real

in

and hovy you choose

to portray

paint the leaf, don't try to

you would match pieces of material.

Match your mood and even change

way

of the

how you feel at the moment, happy

Your moods will be reflected in the way you

see the color

as

The green

brilliant or dull, soft or sharp.

also affected by

leaf to

suit

it.

match the color

the appearance of

how you feel. In this.^

game and not a problem |

yourself and

painting becomes an exciting

chemistry.

Use your colors as though you were inventing. What

you see, plus how you feel, plus what you think, equal
what you put on the canvas. This is how you will communicate those three very personal reactions to the person
who looks at your painting.

CHOOSING COLORS FOR YOUR

OIL-PAINT PALETTE
To

begin with, a limited number of colors is advisable.

palette must, of course, include the primary colors:
red, blue, and yellow. It must also include white. These

Your

four are indispensable.

A number of colors are called "earth colors." Yellow
ochre, raw umber, burnt umber, raw sienna and burnt
sienna are all derived from clay.
A yellow ochre and a burnt umber will add two good
earthy colors to your palette.
1
consider that black should

be one of your palette

colors.

This

now makes

seven

colors

for

your

''beginning"

palette.

There are many varieties of reds, blues, and yellows.

Each of these primary colors is available in a wide range
and under many different names.

26

range from

very wide
red for your palette is called
'Vermilion." A good dark red is called "alizarin crimson."
1 would include both of these.
Among the blues, a good light blue is "cerulean blue."

Red,

choice.

in its

One good

light to dark, allows a

light

good dark blue is "cobalt blue." Get these, too.

good light yellow is "cadmium yellow pale."

good

dark or strong yellow is "cadmium yellow deep." These

should also be included.
We now have a ten-color palette:
Vermilion
1.
2. Alizarin crimson
3. Cerulean blue
4. Cobalt blue
5.

6.

7.
8.

Cadmium
Cadmium

yellow, pale
yellow, deep

Yellow ochre
Burnt umber

Ivory black
Flake white
During your progress as a painter you will delete or add
many colors. But to begin with, try the above, limited
9.

10.

palette. It will work quite efficiently for most painting requirements.

All of the colors listed are available in art supply shops
under various trademarks. Some are very expensive; some
are comparatively cheap. You can buy quite good, permanent colors in a middle-range price, and this is what I

recommend.
The application of paint

to canvas is free of any rules.

and you may dab or swish or
spatter or jab your paint on with as much freedom as you
wish. You will evolve your own brushing style as inevitably as you did your penscript.
The color mixtures made with the primary colors can
be varied in intensity by adding white pigment. The addi-

brush

is

a pliant thing,

tion of white naturally

makes

the color lighter.

This is called lightening the "value" of the colors.

Colors are also sometimes called "warm" or "cool." The
expression is descriptive of the effect of these colors on
the senses. Obviously, redHs "warm" as compared to blue
or green.
Between the extremes of warm and cool are the rela-

27

such as red-violet or yellow-green.

of the many important contributions that "modern"
painting has made to the creation and enjoyment of works
of art is the liberation of the painter from the obligation
to "copy" the color of an object in nature.
tively neutral colors

One

For certain purposes which have nothing to do with the

creation of works of art, it is necessary to try to achieve
the "realistic" color of an object. When 1 use the word
"realistic" I mean the accepted generalization of what the
color of an object is. "Flesh color," for instance, has an
accepted connotation that has no basis in fact, but which
a commonplace of our language. For commercial delineation of a face, an all-over "flesh color" is required for
easy identification. An apple is red, a leaf is green, and

is

so on.

For the painter who is not restricted by limitations inherent in a "job," the free use of his inventiveness is limited only by the consideration of the needs of his picture.
Where an arbitrary change of the local "real" color of
an object is necessary to achieve a unity or harmony in
relation to a color adjacent to it, the artist is at liberty to
do so. More than that, it is his artistic duty to do so. This
does not by any means imply that complete anarchy or
whim should be the rule in choosing departures from the
"real." At all times the chief consideration should be the
needs of the picture.
A color used in a painting must not be considered as
is affected by the colors around it and it
them. Where aesthetic considerations call for the
use of a color that is not "local" and "real," an artist has
the duty to supply it.

living alone. It
affects

GLAZES
Glazes are fluid washes of diluted color floated in a
transparent film over the surface of another color.
The purpose of a glaze is to add its transparent color to
the base color to create a veiled change, which is a combination of the two colors.
On occasion two or more such glazes may be applied.
They build up a sheen of superimposed colors of a lumi-

28

nous, translucent character.

At times a glaze is flowed

upon

a finished painting with

adding brilliance to the painting. On the

other hand, a dark glaze may be used to subdue the brilthe

effect

of

liance of the finished picture

if

this

is

desirable.

This glaze on the finished painting should be applied

only when it is completely dry or it will drag pigment
underneath and muddy the picture.

THE COLOR WHEEL

All the colors indicated

on

this

wheel were made from

the three primary colors: red, yellow and blue.

The three secondary colors are green, violet and orange.

When the three primary colors are mixed with the

secondary colors we produce the tertiary colors or hues:
yellow-green, blue-violet, red-violet, red-orange and yellow-orange.
Complementary colors are those directly opposite each
other on this color wheel.

--

^a IT

tr LA #

^^

YELLOW
ORANGE

(mmG

RED

ORANGE

RED
VIOLET
30

^^^W
^^^

YELLOW
GREEN

V3\

CANVAS
A

cheap cotton canvas, so thin and so badly prepared

will bulge or sag at a touch, shrink or stretch under
slight weather change or not receive your paint well or
that

it

hold

permanently, is obviously an unfortunate choice.

On the other hand, to use a very expensive linen suitable
for masterpieces when you are doing incidental sketches
of no real consequence is an extravagance. Too fine and
expensive a canvas may also inhibit you. For practice purposes you may paint on almost any surface that is receptive to oil paint. There is a wide range of inexpensive
paint-receiving materials, from wrapping paper to wood.
The latter, if properly prepared is as permanent a surface
as any canvas, but much cheaper and more readily available. Your wrapping-paper sketches will last sufficiently
long (even many years) for most sketching needs. Next
in price to paper and wood are the very adequate simulated sketch pads which have^recently appeared on the art
supply market. These are of specially prepared paper with
a texture quite similar to canvas, of an absorbent, paintreceptive nature that makes them a good painting surface.
Although these simulated canvas papers have not existed
long enough to judge their permanence as a picture base,
they promise a fair number of years' life without impairment.
Then there are the very good canvas-covered panels.
These are adequate for most serious work and give as
it

permanent

a surface as any.

You may
stretchers,

prefer a stretched canvas,

becaues

your brush strokes.

but in my opinion it

it

mounted on wooden

and "bounce" to
have such a preference,

gives a resiliency

Many

artists

is only a habit, not a requirement. So,

while you are studying, take care not to develop habits
that are too expensive.
For small paintings, canvas of a fine-grained fabric is
usually preferred. Very large pictures with heavy pigment
tend to stretch and sag with the weight of the paint if the

canvas

is

too fine-grained.

With sagging, the paint

will

crack.

Very rough-grained canvases make

cult,

32

fine detail

work

but they are popular for broad, free brushwork.

diffi-

%
|

'^
^

;
-^^

Art material shops

quality cotton canvas
are

made

in

many

sell canvas panels made ot good

mounted on heavy cardboard. They

sizes.

These are handy and inexpensive and quite adequate for

most sketching purposes.
They are also manufactured with linen canvas, at a
higher price.
For quick sketching purposes pads of canvas-like textured paper are available. Their use is not recommended
for serious painting with a view toward permanence.
However, students use them and professionals find them
convenient for outdoor sketching and traveling.
If

you wish to prepare your own canvas, buy unbleached

Be sure that it is raw canvas with no sizing added

linen.

by the manufacturer.
You must mix the "size" or base for painting.
Size is made of glue mixed with water. Buy rabbit-skin
glue in sheets from hardware or paint stores. (About 2
ounces of glue to one quart of water.)
Soak it in water over night. It will melt easily over heat.
With a wide flat brush, paint the size evenly over the
entire canvas to the outer edges. Allow the size to dry
thoroughly.

Now
Mix

comes the priming

process.

as above with powdered zinc white and an equal part of powdered chalk.
Enough zinc white and chalk must be used to give a thick
but flowing, creamy consistency after stirring.
Paint this mixture of prime on the canvas as evenly as
possible. You may vary the thickness of the prime as you
see fit. If it is too heavy for brushing it may be applied
with a palette knife.
When the first prime ground is quite dry, apply a second coat of prime.
Again, at this point, I should like to emphasize the fact
that one can get too fancy about tools and work surfaces
and spend so much time on preparations for painting that
painting itself becomes a chore. The commercial products
available are for most purposes of quite adequate quality
for the most ambitious effort. Only when the prohibitive
cost of ready-made materials or special difficulty in obtaining them prevails should you bother with the problems

a solution of glue

and water

33

of

home canvas
Manuals

for

preparation or color grinding.

tend to become too concerned

Good

artists have always been inventive

achieving the effects they desire. For instance, Picasso, undeniably a great technician, has been
known to use match ends, broken table knives or bent
nails to attain brilliant passages in his painting. He paints
at times on stone, paper and wood.
An artist never has enough time. The quotation, "Art
is
long. Life is short," is too painfully true. As your
ability develops and your absorption in the creative process grows, you will increasingly begrudge any time taken

about materials.

and ingenious

away from

'

painters

in

'

'

actual painting.

DRAWING
It is a very reassuring thing to know that there is no
one way to draw. Beginners have too often been driven to
despair by attempts to make them conform to rigid methods, which fail to take into account the beginner's natural
drawing script, his own particular handwriting. The wit
and charm that might have appeared spontaneously in the
student's drawings have often been smothered under an

enforced, prescribed curriculum.

Every child draws well. A child is uninhibited by rewhich various drawing disciplines impose. He
"plays" while he draws and this is an indispensable quality
in good drawing. It should be preserved.
In drawing for painting it is particularly important to
have an unlabored and fresh approach. There is no need
for detailed drawing on a canvas. A "finished" study not
only would be lost when paint is applied
it would also
act as a restraint to free painting. The tendency would be
to tint a drawing instead of painting it.
straints

In the course of our painting study throughout this

book, there will appear many sketches related to the painting in progress. Study their characters, not with the purpose of copying the style but rather with a view toward
understanding the constructive step that drawing represents in building a painting.

A
34

drawing prepared for

painting

is

called

upon

to

serve certain specific functions, so that the concentration

is on those functions rather than on the immediate aes-

problem of the drawing.

This does not mean that your drawing for painting
should not be carefully considered. It must direct the trend
of your painting and for that reason it must be a forceful
guide. But its guiding qualities must not be diverted b
thetic

irrelevancies.

The drawing process is to be carried into the painting.

There is no sharp stopping point. On the contrary, the
drawing is woven into the pattern of your painting.

DRAWING ON THE CANVAS

Drawing
for

its

own

for painting

quite different from drawing

drawing on canvas will be cov-

is

sake, for your

ered by the thick paint when it is finished.

You must draw simple guide outlines of the objects to
show their positions. This will serve to keep your whole
picture composition in its proper place when .you begin
to paint the details

of each object.

You may make your drawing in pencil or charcoal on

the canvas, or you may draw directly with paint.
If you make your simple drawing in pencil, keep the
lines

very light so that the lead does not smudge your

colors.

Many

artists

use long, thin charcoal sticks to put their

drawing on canvas. This is better than pencil because it

can be wiped out easily time after time until you find
exactly the position and proportions you need for your
painting.

When you have finished your charcoal drawing it must

be sprayed with clear shellac called "fixative."
This ''fixes" the charcoal to the canvas so that it will
not smudge when you brush over it.
If you wish to draw with your brush and paint instead
of making a charcoal or pencil sketch, you should use a
thin mixture of brown or gray patnt from your palette.
Draw with the brush as you would with the pencil or
charcoal,

and use

free,

simple lines

yourself a skeleton chart of the

and tones

picture

to

to

give

be painted.

35

Your brush drawing should be done

in

one

color.

Colors are taken from the palette and applied to the

canvas with either brushes or a palette knife. Some painters
use both on one picture.
Most of the mixing of colors is done on the palette by
dipping a brush or knife first in one color dab and then in
another, and then swishing the combination about in the
center of the palette until the new dab forms the color
desired.

WHAT TO
Everyone has

PAINT?

fine pictures within

him. The least imagi-

native person has a world of visions that no one else has

seen and that no camera will ever capture. Limited only

by his skill, the artist exposes a fresh, unexplored, visual
world to our gaze with each picture he paints.
Inevitably an artist can only simulate nature.

The

vast

even one tree would take a lifetime to reproduce

exactly. Fortunately we are never called upon to do that.
The human eye approximates and generalizes the enormous profusion of nature. The painter's eye adds to this
approximation and generalization another qualifying process, that of discrimination. Discrimination makes what-

detail of

ever subject you decide to paint in part a reflection of

new concept.
Naturally there are some subjects that are closer to your
heart than others. Never paint anything that bores you.
But, on the other hand, don't bore too easily. An artist
should have wide interests; almost everything is grist to his
mill. His curiosity should be boundless and his mind open
and alive to ideas and inventions. The reason that artists
have always been thought of as people who have fun and
are interesting is because they have this curiosity.
The artist teaches us to see. He stimulates us to perceive
things we would not have seen had we not been aroused

you, in part a

by

his rich vision.

The artist's sensation while painting is not precisely the

same as the beholder's while looking at the picture. A landscape by Vlaminck or Van Gogh is often a passionate cry
full

36

of the pains and frustrations of these troubled

artists.

But for the beholder there

ing

power of nature

in a

ing color of flowers as

torment of the

artist

is

a rich experience of the surg-

Vlaminck storm, and in the burnseen by Van Gogh. And so the

can result

in a

wonderful experience

for the viewer.

37

VALUES
For purposes of instruction there will be a concentration
on painting in values rather than in colors.
Color being a highly personal consideration, it follows
beyond the suggestion of basic color mixing and the;
listing of a basic range of colors for a beginning palette,
we must leave the actual painting in color to each student's
that

whim
The

or inspiration.
building of solid form based on a study of applicais one of the important steps in learning to

tion of values
paint.

Let us examine the meaning of the word "value."

A bright hue will obviously be more intense when surrounded by low key surroundings.
A dark next to a light will appear to be deeper than
when it is close to another dark.
A high light will appear to be more forward on the canvas than a lesser light.
A deep dark will appear to recede into the canvas.

38

It follows, therefore, that to achieve the effect of a form

turning, a succession of graduated tones from bright light
to dark should be used.

flat plane which is turned completely away from the

source of a direct light will be in a deep dark.
surface directly exposed to a source of bright light
will be a high Ught surface.
plane partially turned away from the source of direct
light will create a middle tone between light and dark.
These considerations are the elements of the study of
values and a definition of the term.
Any painting can be done in many different ways. Each
person's painting is as different as his handwriting is from
everyone else's. What 1 show you here is my painting
handwriting yours will be quite different. But the problems you meet on the way problems in the use of the
material, the first steps on canvas, the building process of
your picture will be pretty much the same as the problems I have to solve.
Try doing them my way first, and soon you will develop
your own methods, perhaps more suitable to what you

have to

say.

39

BRUSH STROKES
Brush strokes may vary in many ways. Some people
apply their brush to the canvas boldly and freely. Others
are gentle and careful. Each has his own brush "handwriting."

In addition to personal mannerisms of putting your

brush to the canvas, there are ways of brush stroking
that can be learned. Six such methods are shown here.
1.
Shows the paint flowing on by using a brush dipped
in thinned liquid color.
2.
Thick paint stroked on heavily with strokes all go3.

same direction.
Here the paint has been dabbed on by using the
blunt end of the bristles in short, narrow jabs in-

4.

The

ing in the

stead of strokes.
paint has been carefully and evenly stroked on
form a solid tone.
These are short, stippled dabs separated to allow the
canvas to show through.
to

5.

Short strokes with a semi-dry brush also planned to

allow canvas to show through.
You will see many other techniques of putting on paint
6.

if

you examine paintings in your local museum. You may

from them, but try to find the method

learn a great deal

of applying paint that

your picture.

40

is

best suited to the character of

41

HEADS, LIMBS
AND FEATURES

a
>

HEADS
This simply painted head is shown with proportion lines
behind it to indicate where the features lie in relation
to

one another.

This shows a sharp light from one direction, and its

effect on the shapes of the shadows and the depth or
darkness of the shadows.

44

The
heads
are

light

source

is

not so direct and sharp on these

but the shapes of the shadows

in different positions,

still

quite clear

and defined.

The next two pages

are studies of a head from the

charcoal drawings to the filled-in, light-and-shade^state.
This whole study is in one color, but with various tones
of that color, from dark to almost white.
Strongly blocked-out solid forms help show the strength
of the face.

45

i'

"*
46

-^y-^

ti\\

"

47

9
#"'

PAINTING FEATURES
The

subtle features of the

face are

more

easily

structed with paint than with the lead pencil.

essentially

''contour''

medium

of expression.

con-

Pencil
It

is

cannot

means other than shading and accent. It

must inevitably "suggest." But oil paints have body. A
sculptural, three dimensional form is realizable by use of
suggest form by

qualities of the thick pigment. The term

"impasto" means the actual forms modeled by the weight
of the paint and the direction of the brush strokes, which
subtly "sculpt" the features. This quality, plus the color
differentiations and the elimination of "line" strokes in

the ''impasto"

favor of tonal relations,

make

oil

painting the ideal me-

dium for depicting the features.

Examine the series of oil sketches of features.
Notice the way they are "built" with variations of pigment thickness, tonal values and local color differentiations.

48

/
,

'\

i-i'

-X

fl

49

%.
)
M
,.//

The mouth
50

is

an important feature.

^^^^"w

r
51

Eyes

52

tell

a story.

I
You can

paint faces without very

much

detail

53

or with a good deal.

54

It's still

a face!

55

And
56

the female

is

diflferent

from the male.

57

iv

Arms show
58

strength or delicacy.

Hands express

character.

59

60

#/

\
:^^

Legs support weight.

61

62

Feet are the foundation.

63

IM

FIGURES

It

3m

^v'^^r^^m^^^^^f^W^-^M'^
i?^>^^^<>?
:^^--^

^m:

','LxAi

^/^v;

66

The male

torso.

67

68

The female

torso.

69

PAINTING THE NUDE

There was a time when the artist was much more pre
occupied with the nude than now. Every salon exhibitior
abroad, and our own academy shows, had a large proportion of nudes on the walls. Art schools required long
years of careful study of the male and female figure. A
painter-student was expected to be able to paint ''flesh
tones" so real that the pores would breathe. Anatomy was
taught in the greatest detail and the Latin names of the
bones and muscles had to be memorized.
Happily, the pedantic study of the exact is no longer
required of students and the exact depiction of humans
has again been relegated to fields unrelated to painting.
And although the galleries are no longer cluttered with
huge paintings of nudes, the human body is a valid subject for the artist. In modern art schools, drawing from
the nude is still done, but with a freedom which did not
visit to a figure-drawing class today
exist in the past.
would disturb the academician. The nude model on the
stand is interpreted in a hundred ways. The figure is often
distorted, abstracted and reassembled until it is unrecog-

nizable as the

model on

the stand.

pressionist" students interpret the

The

model

less

modern

"ex-

as a part of their

own inner struggle rather than as an individual. The impressionist-minded students treat the figure as a mere
reflection of light and color, and its human properties are
neglected.

Very few
about the

artists

who

remain

figure. All this

is

as

Granted that the "real"

is

it

are completely
should be.

desirable

literal

on occasion,

it

is

certainly debatable whether the detailed outer aspects of a

any more valid than the impressions made upon

who sees the figure through eyes conditioned by
what he as an individual thinks and feels.
Shown on page 72 is a "finished" drawing of a nude figure

figure are

the viewer

70

which we will use as our model. It was drawn from the

model with a view toward emphasizing the tonal
values and the shadows.
It is not necessary to attempt to make so finished a drawlive

preparing to paint.
is merely to serve as our model. As you advance
you will probably paint from the live model or even use
pure invention and paint without one.
The artist is confronted by a canvas of two dimensions:
that of
height and width. There is no third dimension
depth. The one-sixth of an inch or so thickness of his
canvas or panel is, of course, impenetrable.
This gives him only a flat plane upon which to apply
ing, in

This

paint.

There are painters who

feel that to attempt to violate

two-dimensional space with ''eye fooling"
suggestions of a third plane is to evade the challenge of
honest, "natural" space. These painters are content to work
within the limitations set by the picture plane before
them. They feel no need to "penetrate" the flat plane. If
you study the works of most abstract and non-objective
painters you will notice that rarely do they attempt to sugthis

surface,

back and forth movement "into" the flat picture plane.

Other painters seek methods of suggesting the third
dimension in their pictures. They utilize every method,
short of carving their way into the working surface, in
order to convey depth and distance.
There are several methods of deceiving the eye so that
it is carried back into the picture plane, simulating inches
gest

or miles of depth.

The main methods are perspective and variations of

values of darks and lights. Contrasting sizes of forms suggesting distance by diminishing and nearness by exaggerating are often employed.

A
may

certain amount of back and forth movement in space

be simulated by varying the thickness of the pigment

as

is

it

applied to the canvas.

71

72

SERIES OF FIGURE STUDIES

Each of the nude figures that follows has been carried

from the first drawing study to the point in the painting
where the main forms have been indicated by the shapes
of the shadow tones, which indicate turns of form away
from and toward the source of light.
In each series, effort has been
solidity of

form and

made

fluidity of line

to

indicate

how

can be attained with

most economical detail.

Only the large, important anatomical forms of each area
of the body have been painted.
the

The
"finish"

now ready to receive the

Skin textures, subtle anatomical details

figure studies in oil are

desired.

and local color are now applicable upon these basic figure
and form studies.
Study and analyze every step in each of these poses. No
two offer quite the same problem. Effort has been made to
choose poses which will help the student deal with most
commonplace positions assumed in sitting, walking or
reclining.

73

N^ "fl/'

>"////.

74

I
V

3'

Q)
76

77

<

5'

'/

-J,'

79

80

-/

-v.

^J

82

V..,

83

84

85

86

CLOTHING
This oil sketch shows a nude figure next to a clothed
study of the same figure.
The drape of the clothes is affected by the forms beneath
the cloth as well as by the pull of gravity.
Notice the strain of the cloth where protruding forms
thrust against it, and the easy fall of the cloth subjected
to gravity.

87

^^

STILL LIFE

It

Ta

1)1'

x
STILL LIFE
A Still-life painting is a painting of objects that have no
power of motion. Flowers are alive, but they are inanimate. They can't move under their own power. Fruit and
vegetables are also living things without that power. All
the non-moving objects of nature, as well as objects made

by man, are subjects for still-life painting.

The most popular still-life subjects are flowers and fruit,
but anything that attracts you by its color or shape is a

good thing

One

to put in a still-life painting.

great advantage of

to painting people,

is

that

still-life

still-life

you without moving or getting

92

painting,

if

compared

objects will pose for

tired. If

you paint

a land-

and light change every few minutes. A

be your patient model for as long as you

scape, the color

still

need

life

will

it.

up the small group of objects about five feet away

from your canvas. Don't make too complicated a group for
your early studies. Two or three objects that make a good
Set

design together should be enough.

Here are four stages of the painting. These were done
to show how roundness is suggested by tones of color.

Once you know from which

ing,

you know

that

all

sides

direction the light

facing

brighter than the sides that are turned

the

light

away from

is

com-

will

be

the light.

93

94

95

LIGHT
There are two main sources of color in* every object to
be painted. They are the local color and color produced
by

light on the
For instance

object.

intrinsically green. Subjected to

color from flowers, tree trunks,
sparkles of dew, the blue of the sky and innumerable other
things, the intrinsic green color will assume many different

sunlight,

leaf

reflection

is

of

hues.

Since everything is subject to light and shade it is obvious that local, intrinsic color is not static. Nothing exposed
to light or shade is all red or green, or any one color.
As an exercise, take a ball or a cube of any kind. Place
it
in one position in relation to the source of light, and
then in another. Observe the change in its intrinsic color
under various conditions.
For great examples of study of the effect of light upon
the local color of objects look at the paintings of the
Impressionists

Renoir,

Seurat, Sisley, Pissarro and others

of that school.

COMPOSITION
The "composition"

of a picture is a very important

composition means good placement of all the
objects and the spaces around them in the frame of your
thing.

Good

canvas.
"live comfortably" in the sphere
should be sufficiently large to fill the
area well without being so large as to crowd the space.

Your composition must

of your canvas.

96

It

til

/i/>^

/
\

Px

^^

^^
r,:-^.

97

98

99

v/-^--

, ;,

LANDSCAPE PAINTING
The non-painter regards

a landscape and his response

be on a very high plane of emotion. Its beauty or
majesty or drama may register with as great an impact as
that which the painter receives. But the painter is called
upon to reinterpret what he sees and feels. He must allow
the vast profusion of nature to percolate until the essence
caji be transferred to his canvas. The distilled interpretation that results carries an even greater impact, due to its
selectivity and the consequent intensification of the emotional story involved in the landscape.
It is no patronizing affront to the wonders of nature
that the artist sets himself the task of reorganizing and
simplifying. Rather, it is an acknowledgment of the inadequacy of the eye and mind of the observer to encompass nature's magnificent complexity. Only a condensation
is possible for the observer as well as for the artist.

may

In the process of that condensation an alchemy takes

the mixture of things seen and the artist's emotions,

place

plus

his

result

is

inevitable

need for selective organization. The

it is not a slavish copy of the scene

creative in that

but a vista never seen or painted before.

Sometimes this new creation does not encompass the
immensity or beauty of nature, but if it is honestly made,

have a validity of its own.

best landscape paintings have always been those in
which the artist has set a limited objective for his canvas
statement. It is obvious that an area of lawn cannot be
emulated on canvas by reproducing each blade of grass
with every shadow and light on each blade. Some means
of restating the story of that lawn must be found and here
is where the artist becomes the aforementioned alchemist.
There is no one way of achieving the restatement. Each
of us has inevitably his own peculiar viewpoint and purpose. Some of the methods of approach to simplification
it

will

The

and the techniques of transference to canof things seen

can be described here, but the final choice must come
vas

from you.
102

LET'S PAINT

A LANDSCAPE

you must make your choice of what landscape

First,

to paint.

As you walk about through the park or the country,

look for a part of the wide area around you suitable for
a "picture."

Use your two hands to "frame" several spots that you

This will cut out from the big spread of country the
small part you wish to paint.
Now half-close your eyes until the area framed by your
hands becomes very simple because all the tiny details

like.

have been eliminated.

You
it

are

now

"visualizing" your picture for transferring

to canvas.

103

When you

have decided to paint that scene,

set

up your

work comfortably.
You can prop your canvas board up against a tree or
rock and use the ground about you as your work table. If

materials so you can

you have a small folding

the better, but

if

easel

and a canvas stool, so much

keep you from painting.

not, don't let that

Remember

that when you are painting outdoors the

change every hour with the sun. In the morning
the light and color will be quite different from the light
and color of noontime and different again in the afternoon.
You must decide what part of the day's color you like
best. Mix those colors on your palette. Try to do your
coloring in that part of the day, and use the other hours
for preparing, drawing, composing, etc.
Begin by drawing in the main features of your landscape. These would be the biggest objects and the over-all
light will

design of the area.

You may draw

with charcoal or directly with a brush

an easy flowing ''neutral" color, like brown or
gray. If you draw lightly, even green tree tops and grass
may be placed with the neutral color. It will be covered by
the tree color as you build your picture.
When you have composed your picture in such a way
that your whole canvas is occupied interestingly, you are
ready to paint.
Block in the big shapes. See where the most light comes

dipped

in

from and which way the shadows fall; this will tell you
where the main lights and darks of your picture will be.
Notice that the objects and areas nearest your eye are
the most sharply defined. The darks and the lights on them

As things go back into the distance, they

become more blurred and softened.
The area nearest to you is called the foreground. Here
will be your darkest darks and your lightest lights. Your
are strongest.

brightest colors and your deepest ones will appear in the

foreground.
The next area is the middle distance. This lies in the
center portion of your view and of your canvas. All the
shadows and objects will be smaller than those in the
foreground even if they actually are bigger in life. For
instance, a tree in the distance looks smaller than a bush

near your eyes.

104

fvRn^

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^-<

^ /

,^j3e*^>i'^^'nJgsgsfy^^^

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^*=*i!-^S*S>%SS^^^f?^i8^!MSS-

.-/

iR$T H^^re^

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^^

^/^
""TC'^^^U

And

SKETC^t

the colors in the middle-distance areas will be less

intense than those in the foreground.

The
This

is

third division of your painting

is

the background.

the most distant area, and, of course, the strengths

of its shadows, lights, and colors are even dimmer than

those in the foreground and middle distance. By decreasing the size of the objects and their color and light strength,

105

WF^

you give an impression of distance in the flat surface of

your picture.
Paint with broad strokes, and don't try to crowd in too
much detail. Say what impresses you most in the landscape, and don't try to be a camera.
This "first step" painting places the main shapes and
106

'^4

divisions of

the landscape.

area, the shapes of the

In the foreground, or front

tree are large and boldly

bush and

painted.

Over the first hill is the middle distance, the center area
of your picture. Objects there will naturally appear smaller
than those in the foreground. The tones of color will not
107

be as strong. This will help give the impression of distance.

The background area, in this case, is made up of the

mountains and the sky. Being farthest from your eye, the
small details are lost, and only the big outlines of mountain shapes and the cloud form can be shown.
The landscape
108

is

shown here with

the fine details of the

picture painted

in.

Only such details as will help show the character of the

farm land and the nature of the trees and bushes have
been painted.
Notice that the lines of the plowed land and the crops
help to show the rounded forms of the hills.
109

Now try a landscape with a figure. This is the sketch on

your canvas. The next two pictures show the steps that
follow.

110

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112

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113

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114

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115

116

^1

There is always a point at which the artist has said what

he wishes to say, and it is at that point that he should stop.
Japanese water-color painters are masters of this economy of statement in paint.
Try painting some simple plant and tree forms in this
manner.
117

r^s^

Now,
118

let's

go down to the water.

>

120

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121

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^'-^.^

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t
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V"

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Back
122

to the hills, but with the addition of water.

^ I

123

Try
124

a self-portrait in a landscape.

125

PAINT ROLLERS
The common household paint roller may be used to
making vigorous oil or casein paintings.

great advantage in

Such an implement should not be considered as a time

saving device or an easy tool for covering large areas of
canvas background.
It is, rather, a subtle instrument in its own right, capable
of producing vital paint surfaces, patinas and blendings

quite different

from those achieved with even the broadest

brush strokes.

Reproduced here are several paintings made almost enwith paint rollers. Even the paint "drawing" was

tirely

accomplished with the edge of the roller.

I use rollers about three inches wide. They are available
in most paint stores.

For certain aspects of the painting, the fresh resilient

nap of a new roller is desirable, but rollers covered with
dried coats of paint are equally useful and can apply paint
with the spontaneity of a palette knife.
For use with the roller, a large glass or porcelain slab

makes an

excellent palette.

put heavy dabs of three or four colors on the palette

and use a separate roller for each color.
I do the blending directly on the canvas.
You will probably find the roller a clumsy instrument at
first, but it is worth your while to devote a certain amount
of practice to it, until you achieve dexterity in applying
I

paint to your canvas.

Very little oil or turp

medium should be used. Much of

the virtue of the roller as a paint applier lies in its fresh
impasto of painting, thick and almost three dimensional in

appearance on your canvas.

126

127

128

^.--

The

tiger

is

an example of what you can achieve

with rollers.

129

ABSTRACT AND NON-OBJECTIVE

It is not with the intention of being patronizing that
wish to pay tribute to the contributions which the nonobjective painters have made to the creative life. Though
each artist has strong preferences regarding schools of
I

art expression, and

am no exception, a thinking man
cannot fail to see that the art of non-objective painters has
transformed architecture and industrial design in the modern world. It has changed the appearance of our clothes
and cars, our ships and planes, our cooking utensils and
our children's toys. In most cases it has stimulated an
enormous improvement over the design of the fifty-year
period preceding the advent of non-objective painting.
But as an end in itself, the retreat from representational
art to the point where no object in nature is depicted, but
only the shapes and forms, colors and rhythms invented
by each individual artist, is to my mind not thoroughly
satisfying. This opinion should not preclude a serious study
of the non-objective artist and an attempt on the part of
the student to understand his aims.
I

There are no rule^ to this game of abstracting except

own good taste and sense of balance suggest
to you. But you must not move those shapes about without some planned design. An abstract design needs good
composition. Only the needs of your composition give you
those your

permission to abstract.
Once you have decided upon your subject, two forces
go to work to evolve your concept of the picture. A large
percentage of your painting will be intuitively realized, but
a very consciously thought-out plan of action must accompany your inspirational sources.
Those who consider the creative act of painting a picture so highly intuitive a process that thinking can have
no place of importance in it, will insist that learned rules
or planned procedures are not necessary. They believe that
painting is a sort of automatic writing.
All past art and the artists who created it are refutations
of this mystic theory. The fine artist never lived who was
not intelligent and cultivated

The combination

must be nicely balanced

130

a thinker

on a rational plane.

of the rational and the unconscious

to

produce a good painting.

WATER COLORS^

WATER COLORS
Although water colors are used more widely than any
other coloring technique, they are by no means the easiest
to use. Their greatest virtue lies in the clean,

spontaneous

nature of their application, which gives a transparent

water-color painting a freshness and sparkle unattainable
with any other medium.

At the same time, this quality demands an assured brush

stroke and a preconceived image of the ultimate picture
not required in oil painting. Whereas in oils the artist may
experiment, build up to a desired result by covering unsuccessful areas or scraping them out, the water-colorist

here to "true" water colors

the transparent, not
must preserve the freshness of delicate flows
of clear color, superimposed on the sparkling surface of
paper.
It is not my intention to frighten the student away from
the use of an especially fine medium of expression. I wish
merely to point out that the tyro in water-color painting
must depend less on correction and repair than the artist
in any other medium.
In his favor is the fact that he, along with most children, has at one time used water colors in school or at
home. Thus the materials of the process are much more
familiar to him than are, for instance, oil paints.
His "coloring book" experience will help in that the
fear of the unknown has been eliminated.
Those of us who went on with water colors, because of
special interest in art, delighted in this luminous medium
transparent water-color painting and its related watersoluble paints, casein, tempera and gouache.
Here we shall demonstrate a few ways to apply water
(I refer

the opaque)

colors.

Your

results

will

differ

from mine

matter, anyone else's results. That

are you,

and you

will

have your

is

own

or,

inevitable,

for that

for

you

paint "handwriting."

Study the following pages. The methods demonstrated

many artists have similar approaches and they have made beautiful water-color paintare not the only ones, but

ings.

134

Among
there are

the

many

enjoyable features of painting

no hard and

fast rules

and there

is

is

that

no one way

of using your materials.

As you go on with your

art studies,

you

will

probably

invent some tools of your own which will serve your special needs.
Some water-color painters use sponges to blot out areas
of their tones, others use scrapers made of wire brushes or
a razor blade to make white lines in a painted area. Tooth
brushes are sometimes used for scrambling surfaces or for
spattering paint in little dots of color.
Anything that helps you to say what you wish to say,
in the

most colorful manner,

is

permissible.

135

nelc in

4"^^^^

139

THE WET METHOD

Many water-color painters flow an even, clear, water
cover on their lightly drawn, water-color paper, wait until
it is in a damp state, and begin their painting. The colors
are blended with the dampened surface. Edges become soft
and

beautiful.

This shows the soft blending obtained by painting on

damp paper. Notice how the edges merge and become
furry as the colors flow into one another.

140

DRY-PAPER PAINTING
Notice the crisp edges and sharply defined details. They
that way because they are formed by the brush
and not joined to a softening dampness underneath.
Each method is capable of producing fine effects. In
most cases both are used in making the same painting.

come out

141

COMBINED WET AND

DRY PAINTING
A

'

combination of the pre-dampened paper painting and

the direct, dry-paper painting can be very effective.

To achieve it, wet the paper and complete your spontaneous painting in the flowing, wet technique. Allow the
first stage to dry before applying the direct-dry or semidry brush strokes.
142

eavArtfr

PAH r*
143

Areas that are untouched by the brush are often as much

a part of the picture as those painted.

In no other
clear paper

medium

become

of painting but water color can the

a part of the picture with such effec-

tiveness.

144

-^^JS^S***

^.

Almost all the structure is 'implied" by leaving the white

paper untouched by the brush.
The background throws the white forms into sharp
relief. The few strokes of the brush ''suggest'' parts of the
features
just enough for the beholder's imagination to
supply the rest.

145

'

-''^^'=^..;^

water-color sketch which will serve to show that fea.riot always be painted in such explicit details
as indicated in many of these sketches. Sometimes a simple
dab of paint will indicate an eye with greater power than
tures need

most careful rendering.

These heads have been painted in two values of watercolor wash. A wash being a watery dilution of the waterthe

it flows very freely. Practice will develop

a certain dexterity in controlling the limits of this free flow.
The two values (or depths) are used to give contrast

color pigment,

and form, and

to indicate

shadow

as well as greater or

lesser intensity of local color.

weT
146

147

^tM

Try drawing directly with your water-color brush, as

though it were a pencil.
You will, of course, get broader strokes harder to control at first, but you will find that your water-color sketches
will have greater freshness than those in which you filled in

penciled outlines.

148

In the final stages of your water-color sketch, you must

build with a series of darker flows of color, one laid over

another, until you achieve the depth of tones desired.

Applying the dark areas in glazes, on layers of tone, will
give those areas more vibrance than they have when

painted directly with dark pigment from the tubes.

149

\^ ^'%, '^'^

DRAWING FOR WATER-COLOR

PAINTING
Make your drawing in very light pencil lines on the
water-color paper.
Do not put too much detail into the drawing, and avoid
heavy lines because they will, of course, show through the
transparent color. A "true" water-color painting is made
with the paint. The under-drawing should be merely a few
guide

152

lines.

Be

154

fanciful!

Let yourself go!

155

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..^f'f''''

s^^

'*'^'

157

<*

-^a6

/V.
I-'"

-r

::^^mms'^

m^

I
Light changes with -each passing hour, and
quence, color also changes.

When you

see a beautiful vista that

you want

in

conse-

to paint,

without being pressed for time, make notes similar to these.

As a practice exercise, look out of your window now
and make a ''notation drawing" of the areas of color

you
158

see.

:%

ij ^

,%

U.

i.%

ir^-

^T^
These various studies of the same scene in Naples are
not intended as stages of the same painting, but rather as
variations of technique.
Water colors may be used to achieve either very detailed,
"finished" work or quick, fresh impressions in broad, free
strokes.

The choice depends on your mood and

taste.

159

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164

The compact nature of water-color kits allows you to

carry your equipment about with you at all times.
Color-cake paint boxes are most convenient, and with
a batch of water-color pencils, a few sable brushes of
various sizes, a pad of water-color sketch paper, along
with a small bottle of water and a paint rag or Kleenex
tissues for

wiping your brushes, you are ready for most

sketching eventualities.

168

''

170

([71

"fc'lM.l

If

you use your imagination, you

will

never be

at a loss

for interesting things to paint.

not necessary to be exact in your drawing or color.

style of painting is more important than photo
graphic reproduction.
It is

Your own

172

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173

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^V/

176

-^^

WATER-COLOR PENCILS
AND CRAYONS
There

is

available in the art supply shops an assortment

of water-color pencils and crayons; these are water-soluble

colors in pencil and stick form. They are excellent for
sketching and even "finished" work.

They may be used in several ways:

One way is to draw with the dry
usual way,

pencil or crayon in

so that your
drawing resembles the conventional crayon drawing.
A clear water-saturated brush, cleaned for each area of
painting, is then washed over the crayon lines and tones.
The pigments dissolve and take on the appearance of water
colors obtained from tubes or pans.
Another way of using this pleasant medium is to dip
the pencil point or crayon stick in clear water and apply
it to your paper. Some interesting effects result.
The two methods may be combined.
the

in

line

and

filled-in

tones,

177

CRAYON
178

J
\

1^

'-S
1

WATER COLOR
179

'I

CRAYON
180

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WATER COLOR
181

182

183

CASEIN
Commercially prepared casein

paints,

for the art sup-

ply market, are water-soluble colors.

These paints are usually used as an opaque cover, rather

than as thin, diluted washes like pure water colors. They
may, however, be used transparently with good effect. A
combination of the opaque and thin color washes can
produce very beautiful results.
Because casein contains no greasy oil, it is better than
oil

for painting on paper.

often applied in thickly spread strokes. To avoid a

too pliable surface that may bend
creating cracks and
flaked-off dried color, use heavy bristol board or illustration board.
Many painters like to use casein paints on gesso boards
It is

or gesso-covered masonite.

One

of the

many charms
when dried.

of casein

is

its

mat,

its

un-

glossy character

Casein

is

quite

permanent

surface and cared for.

dammar

184

When

if

it

dried

varnish or plastic spray

is
it

painted on a good
be covered with

may

Here are two quite

different types of water-color paint-

ing methods.

are transparent and opaque.

Both are water colors, because the paint

They

be dissolved

in

in

both

may

water, but there the similarity ends.

Transparent water-color painting

is

ing transparent, filmy washes of color

the process of flow-

on the paper.

Opaque water-color painting is the use of thick pigment, pure or mixed, which covers the paper solidly.

187

Don't try to draw the details of the features at this point.

Free painting, with almost scribbled strokes of the brush,
gives a sketchy quality to the work.
Here the head is painted with three major tones of paint
in the same color: darkest dark, a middle tone, and a
light tone.

188

189

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r

V.
f

'^'^^i::^^^^*^*!^

^^

<

Water colors, because they flow as freely as the ink

from your pen, lend themselves to fanciful play in painting.
As a pleasant relief from drawing and painting directly
from nature and man-made objects, try painting some "inventions." Let your imagination run

riot.

Finish and color this invented bird and then do

of your own.

190

some

191

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