WetCanvas Live! Paint Stunning Landscapes from Photos. Lesson 5 & 6

Having come to this from Johannes's WetCanvas Live course on painting water, I already knew some things... for example:-- there would be many visual examples-- ditto for conceptual metaphors (land snorkeling, melodic lines, rock-filing...)-- key concepts would be tasted, tested and viewed from many angles.All this is true here (and it's all useful for learning to paint). The primary messages?There are three planes (at least) to a good painting.There ought to be a visual lead-in.Look for -- create -- melodic, interesting lines.Recognizing the abstract shapes in the scene before you, he says, is critical. The shapes exist both in the positive and negative spaces.And it's critical to use your artistic license to wrestle shapes into interesting puzzle pieces.Both concepts are looked at in detail.There are moments when you wish that he didn't transition into Photoshop -- it takes more than a bit of onscreen time -- but once there, you're given some real insights.There are some minor technical elements. This series would benefit from intro and outro footage -- the sudden end is especially jarring. Johannes might benefit from a digitizing tablet (it's painful to watch someone write with a mouse). Might be nice to include a PDF of the extremely useful summary slides. Might be better to use a quick CTRL+Z to undo PS edits, rather than mouse open the edit screen, travel to UNDO and click...But these in the end are just minor nits. Again and again he says, 'I wish someone had spelled these things out to me when I was learning to paint.' Here, he puts much energy and thought, and generosity, into spelling them out for us.

(Posted on 1/1/12)