Why Paint With Big Shapes?
There is no element in designing a painting that is more important
than the size relationship of the shapes you employ. One of the
generally accepted principles of design is variety in the division
of space. A page is more visually interesting when divided into
different size shapes. No one ever looked at a checker board and
proclaimed its beauty. In order to achieve variety, big shapes are
necessary to play against smaller shapes. It is only by comparison
that size differences are made clear.
Dominance is another principle of design. Dominance is achieved
when there is enough of one element to dominate other elements.
The minute you create a big shape of similar color, value, or texture
a dominance is made. Andrew Wyeth created a warm neutral color dominance
in “Christina’s World” by making the field occupy
three quarters of the painting. In “Taking on Wet Provisions”,
Winslow Homer made a light value dominance by painting the sky and
water a light value against the smaller darker shadow portion of
the schooner. Lines dominate the majority of the paintings of John
Marin and make a textural dominance by their overwhelming size.
“Small shapes seem weak.......big shapes generous”
Big shapes appear generous and big spirited. They convey certainty
and commitment to the subject matter and to the viewer. Small shapes
seem weak and lack conviction. I am not saying that you should only
paint huge objects--elephants and aircraft hangars. Big shapes can
be made from many small shapes. Just as it takes hundreds of trees
to make a forest, so too can houses, people, trees, and cars be
joined to make one generous shape from what might be portrayed as
15 stingy shapes.
Think Big
I often begin a workshop by encouraging students to think big. Big
hopes, big brushes, big ideas, big shapes, big colors, big prices,
and big expectations. To do otherwise is to flirt with defeat. One
needs only to be a student of great art and artists to appreciate
this approach. I ask you to test this concept by looking at your
favorite art and artists.
Painting big is the result of thinking big. I have seen students
make little shapes with huge brushes and monumental shapes with
two haired brushes. Charles Reid makes beautifully generous figure
shapes with #10 and #12 round brushes while Christopher Schink paints
beautiful shapes with a 2 inch bristle brush. I even saw the palette
and brushes of Winslow Homer on display at the National Gallery
and there was not one brush bigger than a #8 round. Certainly there
is a lesson to be learned from these examples. Big shapes are made
with your head.
Starting Big
I generally begin a painting, either in a sketch book or on the
watercolor paper, by drawing the size and placement of the biggest
shape in the painting. The remainder of the page is sequentially
divided into smaller shapes working from the largest to the smallest.
This same approach is continued when starting to paint, the largest
shapes being painted first. The decision as to which brush size
is determined not by the size of the shape but rather by how often
I will change colors within the shape. Sometimes a 2” brush
is employed when a large rather flat color shape is desired. Other
times I will use a #12 round when a more varied color / textured
surface is desired. While brushes can determine the size of a brush
stroke (look at paintings by John S. Sargent), they are not responsible
for the size of the shape they produce.
Old advice
By following the old advice of “paint along the wet edge”,
a small round brush can cover an entire piece of watercolor. By
using this sequence you will find you have made significant size
differences and established a color dominance from the start. This
will make painting much easier and will set in motion a chain of
events you will find exciting and meaningful. Trust me!
 try
this....
1. Select a simple landscape of three elements,
such as sky, trees, and land. Determine which of these shapes will
dominate by the size— the “big shape”. The remaining
two will be smaller than the first and should be of unequal size.
Paint it! Repeat the process twice more, making each of the remaining
elements the dominant shape.
2. Repeat the previous sequence with a still-life as the
subject. Make the first painting a room with a still-life in it
and the second —a still-life in a room. I wouldn't bother
to do the third variation, a room and a still-life. It will only
be boring.
3. Choose a subject. Determine the
size differences beginning with the
biggest shape. Proceed with a 2” brush
(or larger) making flat color shapes.
Redo the painting using smaller
brushes, like number 8 and 10 rounds.
This version should place greater
emphasis on color and texture.
Remember: THINK
BIG!
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