Windswept Waves II by Southern California Artist Marian Fortunati

Windswept Waves II© Marian Fortunati 14" x 18" Oil on RayMar Canvas Panel

When I was in Laguna Beach, I painted a small 6"x8" study of the wild windblown waves crashing against the rocks off shore.  You can see my previous blog post HERE to see the study and my thoughts while painting it.  I posted it on my blog and several different people suggested that it would look good as a larger painting.

I decided that it might be nice to try.  I started it on the first day I began studying with David Gallup.    Today when I was finishing it up, David talked and demonstrated a lot of different concepts and it was difficult to see if I could understand and / apply the things he was trying very hard to get through my stubborn mind.   These are some things he was trying to teach me:

• Always leave a "person sized hole" in your painting....    Basically this means don't spell everything out for the viewer.  Trust the viewer and let him/her bring their own meaning to a painting.   Let them fill in the hole.
• David doesn't like focal point paintings.   He recognizes that most painters do use focal points but he feels that when we painters use a focal point it assumes that the viewer doesn't know where to look so he/she has to be "told" where to look.  He wants the viewer to wander through the painting and enjoy the journey through and around it.

  Close up showing changes in texture, color and value

• David explained that values can be seen from a distance so one should make interesting value shapes and changes in values within a shape to create interest from a distance.
• The use of colors of similar value create interest upon close up inspection.    Using a variety of color of the same value for example within a dark shape helps the viewer find delightful spots of color that are not visible from a distance.
• Texture is another way to create interest for the viewer.
• Paintings which are extremely realistic never change.  Those which have different aspects of interest from a distance, from mid-distance or from close up offer the viewer a painting that is always interesting and always has a new aspect for the viewer to explore.

Anyway, I'm afraid I'm going to be one of David's tougher students, but I really enjoy painting with and learning from him and look forward to painting both inside the studio and outside en plein air.