The Value of Painting Unfinished Studies

As artist's we can sometimes overwork our paintings. Many of us are known to endlessly 'noodle' and render too much, often taking emphasis away from what's really important in a piece of art. It becomes an art in itself to know exactly when to call a painting 'finished', even if it begins as a simple study, and ends looking 'unfinished'.

The Value of Painting Unfinished Studies (Youtube Video)

In this video I discuss my point of view on my I think we can find value and some of our best pieces of art in our unfinished artwork, whilst sharing examples of master artists of the past, who also left their works unfinished.

How do you feel about leaving a piece of art, a drawing or painting unfinished? Do you feel confident enough to call your own work finished, knowing that you could press on and render everything?

Let me know in the comments below.

I hope you enjoy this video and find some value in it. If you did, give it a thumbs up, subscribe to my channel and share. If you would like to help support my work, you can subscribe to me on Patreon for exclusive and early art content: https://www.patreon.com/robbieallenart

This is the link to the video again: The Value of Painting Unfinished Studies

Thank you,

Robbie

How To Paint a Celtic Female Portrait - In Photoshop & Procreate

This is my latest digital painting tutorial where I break down the steps for my latest portrait painting. The same process can be applied in both Adobe Photoshop and Procreate. I hope you enjoy the post and find some value in it!

Step 1. The Initial Sketch

Start off by setting up the canvas to match the dimensions of the original photo reference, or to your own Liking, You can then ‘tone’ the canvas with a warm or cool colour for the background and fill using the paint bucket tool. This removes the glare of the white canvas and encourages you to get started. Then sketch the outline of the woman's head, facial features and hair on a separate layer. You can use a pencil brush, which closely resembles a 2b traditional pencil to give a more traditional feel, or a simple hard round brush. Take your time to get the proportions right, and enjoy the process!

The original photo reference I used for the portrait. Source: Pinterest, photographer unknown.

Step 2. Begin Painting

Once the initial sketch is in place, you can start painting. When painting traditionally, I either first start by painting in the mid-tones of the skin, or the shadows. You can go either way, try both and see what works for you. For this digital painting I chose to paint the mid-tones first, and then I begin painting some of the half-tones and shadows. Create a layer beneath the initial sketch and select the colours that you think is the mid-tone for both the face and the hair of the person, and paint them in.

Step 3. Painting Skin Tones & Hair Using Layers.

For this step, we work on gradually building up paint layers using the hard round brush set to opacity, and focus on detecting both the warm and cool colours, and the lights & darks of the skin and hair in the painting. Keep looking back and fourth between your painting and the model or your photo reference, notice the warm and cool variations in the skin. When painting the hair, focus on the large shapes first, use a large brush, and notice where the lighter clumps/strands are. You can use multiple layers to paint different areas of the painting if you are unsure. But if you are confident and want to replicate the practice and challenge of painting in traditional media, use one layer.

Step 4. Building Up Some of The Details

I then begin working on some of the smaller details, such as the colour of the eye, and I then introduce freckles to the skin of the woman. I create the freckles on a separate layer using a ‘speckled’ or ‘skin texture’ brush set to ‘scatter’, I then use a soft brush and lightly erase areas and reduce the opacity of some of the freckles to keep it realistic. I Keep working around different areas and build up the painting and its details gradually. I Also paint the hair strands in the direction they move away from the head for greater realism.

Step 5. Focusing on The Celtic Design of The Hair

I keep developing the skin tones and lightly blend them in areas using a hard round brush set to opacity, leaving some soft and hard edges. I then start working on the hair strands and details around the painting. I bring in some Celtic inspired patterns into the hair design, which consist of spirals and intricate, weaving lines and shapes, making the portrait more illustrative, authentic and original. I also start to work more on the background, using a soft brush, darkening the corners to frame the portrait. The background compliments the red/orange hair, which is a feature of many of the original, native Celtic people from Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales.

Take The Time To Research And Create Mood Boards

A compilation of Celtic designs I found on a search engine which served as my inspiration for the hair.

I usually put together a mood-board, or reference board of images I have collected that serve as my inspiration to generate interesting and new ideas. I think you should always use reference and image gathering in your design process, especially when designing based on different cultures around the world, where historical information and context is not widely known, and requires a little work on your behalf to investigate. The imagery will fuel your imagination for the design process.

Step 6. Detail Work & Light Reflections

I keep working on details in the skin and hair. I also paint reflections on the shoulder and neck of the woman on a separate layer, using a soft, round brush set to opacity. In the reference photo, the model had some kind of water or glass reflection on her neck and shoulders. Such reflections are not easy to paint, and require focus on concentration to find the right translucency or transparency, and how it interacts with the texture of the skin. Observe closely and be patent. At this stage you can really relax and enjoy the process of bringing the painting towards a finish.

Step 7. The Finishing Touches

Finally I add some faint fire embers for an extra spark of visual interest and creativity! I find painting elements like fire, flames and embers fun and enjoyable. I paint them in first using the lasso tool for a clean shape, and then add a blur filter to give the embers the appearance of being in motion.

I then zoom out, check the painting, make final corrections and add an adjustment layer, slightly increasing the brightness/contrast and vibrancy, and then call it finished.

The Finished Painting

The Full Size Painting

Thank you for reading my digital painting tutorial, I hope you found some value in it, if you did, please like, share and leave a comment below.

- Robbie

Plein Air Painting As An Essential Practice For Artists

For hundreds of years, artists have sought to capture something of the colour and light in landscapes, and beauty found in nature.

Many of the great masters, who’s work we are able to witness in museums, often spoke about the importance of getting outside and painting as much as possible ‘en plein air’.

But why is the practice of plein air painting different from painting from a photograph inside the studio? And why should we aim to practice getting out into the elements to paint on-site regularly, whatever the weather?

From my own personal journey so far, I can tell you that, nothing quite compares to the experience of painting from life, both from the live model inside the studio, and in the field, on top of a high cliff looking out across the coast and sea, sitting down an urban alleyway, or by a lake, looking up at mountains, glaciers, and surrounding forests.

A photo of me sitting and painting ‘en plein air’ on a bench, in Lisbon, Portugal October 2020.

As artists, when we place ourselves under some level of pressure such as painting from life, I believe we often produce our best quality of practice, concentration and focus, whether that be with a definite time-limit where a model is being paid to pose, or the inner knowing that immediacy is of the upmost importance when out in the elements, as the conditions can change rapidly, and so can the light.

This was the view of my finished painting study from the same bench I was sitting on in the photo above. This place was called Miradouro de Santa Luiza in Lisbon, Portugal. A place a lot of tourists and couples flock to at sunset.

Painting Outdoors vs. Painting Inside The Studio

There is a number of advantages to painting from life, or en plein air. It seems to be more of a relaxed drawing or painting process when not working directly from life. When working from photo reference in a studio, you can allow yourself to move and paint slowly. You can give yourself more room to play with experimental practices and new techniques without too much consequence. You are more likely to listen to a podcast or something similar playing in the background, and reduce your full attention to think, mix colour, calculate and paint. But when you bring yourself to study the figure, or landscape directly from life, whilst committing your full focus, a whole new experience presents itself to you.

Below are some of the abilities, skills and situations that I think you will find yourself in when painting from life.

This is my graphic that I created for one of my favourite artist’s John Singer Sargent. This is his painting ‘A Marble Fountain at Aranjuez, Spain ~ John Singer Sargent, 1912’

“Cultivate an ever continuous power of observation. Wherever you are, be always ready to make slight notes of postures, groups and incidents. Store up in the mind... a continuous stream of observations from which to make selections later. Above all things get abroad, see the sunlight and everything that is to be seen.”

— John Singer Sargent

Light, Atmosphere & Increased Observation

When outdoors, you are exposed to different kinds of lighting, things like atmospheric perspective and temperature. An overcast day will provide you with different conditions than a scorching hot day in the desert with direct sunlight, or a cold, windy, and rainy winters day in Ireland, Scotland or England.

These different painting conditions provide the painter with unlimited colour and lighting effects, and not only that, you are there in the environment, you are able to feel, sense, and experience where you are fully, and this has an impact on your work. I find that I am much more likely to notice and observe the subtle colour and light changes with my own eyes, compared to looking at a photograph.

The graphic I created for Monet’s quote and painting, ‘Nymphéas Waterlilies’ 1914-1917

“It’s on the strength of observation and reflection that one finds a way. So we must dig and delve unceasingly.”

— Claude Monet

Heightened Concentration

By painting outdoors, or from a live model, we know that we are about to commit ourselves to a challenging experience where we must use all of our senses and be fully present and concentrated on the task we have before us, in the moment. This forces us to do our very best for a period of time where we are less likely to be distracted, and really get into the ‘flow’ or enter a ‘flow state’ during the process.

I do think there is an increase in concentration levels that comes with painting from life, especially when you are outside when you are breathing in the fresh air, and fully aware that your painting conditions can change in an instant. It forces you to show up, it forces you to focus and do your best work.

A photo of me painting inside the medieval cathedral cloister in Èvora, Portugal, October 2020.

The Challenge

A challenge calls us to activate our competitive nature. It pushes us to do our very best, testing ourselves against ourselves, or another professional, to see what we really know, and what we are capable of. A lot of us like to ‘rise to the challenge’ so to speak, and when we do, we feel far better about ourselves for at least trying. Because showing up and committing takes courage. Making yourself as an artist, go out and paint from life, is easier said than done for many. I have spoken to other artists who feel they lack the confidence to try to paint outside.

But by showing up and trying your best, you will gain confidence.

A painting of French painter Paul Cezanne painting En Plein Air.

Your Eye’s Extra Sensibility & Perception

The camera lens can only capture so much from a scene we take a photograph outside. I have often compared a photo I have taken on location, versus what I actually see, and usually, the results are quite different. This has still proven to be the case once I have taken my photographs back home, and opened them up on a laptop, without any outside glare interfering with what I can see on the camera screen.

Your ability to see around forms in 3D with both eyes enables you to see and perceive much more than you can from a flat photograph taken through a lens.

Decision-making.

While plein air painting, we are forced to make quick, deliberate decisions that are not as common practice in the studio. In the studio, we are more likely to have some other distractions around us, we allow ourselves more time, or sometimes, we don’t even give ourselves time constraints. We are more likely to have extended breaks, and then get distracted by other things, and before we know it, our time is up and we have to do something else. I have noticed I can become less deliberate with my brush strokes when I don’t have a time limit with my work. This can lead to procrastination and putting off finishing tasks, or constantly reworking them in a perfectionist manner.

But when we are painting outdoors, there’s no messing around. We have to become quick, sharp, and efficient. Nature has become our training ground where anything can happen, and this kind of practice I believe is very beneficial to take back into the studio.

This is a photo of me, painting by a cliff edge of the cove below, in Lagos, Portugal, October 2020. The boat passing by suddenly caught my attention.

Ability To Perceive Warm And Cool Colours In Greater Depth.

You might be surprised at what you can observe and detect in terms of what is called bounce light, reflected light, skylight, and colours in shadows when painting outdoors. It is almost imperceivable to detect slight changes in colour temperature in the shadows for instance when looking at a photograph compared to real life and our own sight. But in real-time, shadows can come to life, and we can notice lots of different colour variations within them, all vibrating together. We should take note of these observations, and bring them into our paintings.

This was a recent plein air painting I finished in Lagos Portgual in watercolour & gouache. As you can see with the photo, the drakest areas shadow look almost black, but this wasn’t the case in reality.

Bringing New Knowledge Back Home

One of the great benefits of painting or drawing outside is that there is so much to learn, and bring back and transfer what you learn on the field, into your art at home or in the studio. This same knowledge can be applied to both traditional and digital art.

You go out on your own hero’s journey, easel or sketchbook at hand, paints and pencils packed. Your task is to find and defeat the dragon, and paint the thing you want to learn about and master.

After first experiencing painting outside in New Zealand and in South America, I returned home in England and painted en plein air for the first time. This was my first landscape study in England in a place called ‘The Rockery’ Brighton, the City I grew up in. This was in 2019, painted in oils.

This was another one of my plein air oil paintings from my hometown Brighton, earlier this year.

Getting Outside, Especially In Nature Is Good For You

and breathing fresh air away from technology and Wi-Fi is good for you. Often we as artists can end up spending so much time alone in our studios, often sat down and hunched over a desk and staring at a screen that we forget to enjoy the natural world and to get enough fresh air and exercise, all of which I am convinced, helps to improve the quality of our work and work flow.

A photo of me painting in the Algarve region in Portugal, sitting in nature and breathing in the fresh air.

Plein Air Painting For Different Kinds of Art

Painting en plein air is not just an essential practice for Landscape Painters, but also for artists and painters in various fields such as Illustration, Fantasy Art, Concept Art, Design, Fine Art, and the list goes on. What you are able to learn on the field becomes an invaluable direct experience, which you can take into your work, further down the line.

I aim to take what I learn from my landscape painting practice into my own fantasy art/illustration for both digital and traditional art.  

I am sure there are many more reasons why painting outside is an essential practice, but I might have to save those for a second post as I recall them, so watch out for part 2.

Thank you for reading

Robbie

Digital Portrait Painting Process of Séilah - Brighton, U.K

This is my finished portrait painting commission of Séilah.

Introduction

Hello everyone,

Firstly I would just like to say that I am both a traditional fine artist, and a digital artist. I paint in both mediums. But for this particular painting, the entire process was completed digitally. For more of my traditional work, head over to my painting pages on my website:

For my watercolour & gouache paintings; https://www.robbieallenartist.com/watercolour-gouache

For my oil paintings; https://www.robbieallenartist.com/oil-paintings

Some of which are available for sale on my website shop; https://www.robbieallenartist.com/plein-air-paintings

The painting process video link is provided at the bottom of this post, scroll down if you would prefer to watch that first. 

Deciding Artistic Direction

In 2019 I was asked to paint my sister’s friend’s daughter as a gift for a family members Birthday present. Skye, who commissioned me for the portrait, chose for me to have the portrait painted digitally instead of traditionally.

I organised to meet up with Skye and her daughter Séilah, so that I could get a sense of her personality and character, and to take reference photos for the portrait. In the end we chose to use an already existing professional photo of Séilah, (the photographers name I’m not aware of), to use to paint my portrait of her. Meeting Séilah in person helped me to make decisions regarding what I wanted to do, and where I wanted to go with the portrait.

I chose to try and emphasise her natural curiosity for all things, her colourful and vibrant personality, and her innocence. She wasn’t even 1 year old at the time of me meeting her.

Step 1 - The initial sketch.

My Step-by-step Process For A Digital Portrait Painting

I started off by simply sketching Séilah and the surrounding material on a digital canvas using Adobe Photoshop with a hard round brush. I checked back on a number of occasions to check the proportions, and positioning of the drawing was accurate and true to the original photo reference. Once I had established the initial sketch, I then went on to painting the block-in, with big, broad, brush strokes, filling in areas of local colour and the mid-tones of the skin.

Step 2 - The colour block in.

Moving Around The Canvas

Throughout the process I would move around the digital canvas, developing different areas of the painting, raising them up all together, gradually in more and more detail as I progressed. You can see this in action by watching my video below. This is generally considered to be a solid practice by many professional artists who I have studied from. Personally I find that it helps to keep the painting harmonious, I can paint more instances of ‘lost & found’, and I can mix in foreground and background colours in a way on the canvas that helps to create a better sense of realism. This exercise also serves to keep your mind and eye fresher for longer as your attention isn’t focused on just one area for any given length of time.

Useful Digital Techniques

I paint with a MacBook Pro and I hit the keys (command -, and command +) constantly to go closer and further away from the digital canvas. This digital technique ultimately emulates the real life process of constantly standing backwards and forwards from the physical canvas in order to see the bigger picture of the painting, keeping in control of the piece and being able to detect mistakes and better place new brush strokes with confidence. All of which leads to a more fluid painting process and less accident or error prone one.

This process I also find to be fun, creating a sense of enjoyment. If you get stuck on one area, why not move to another momentarily and come back to where you were before? You might just find that you can suddenly solve the problem with fresh eyes within a matter of minutes of not looking at it.

I also get into the habit of rotating the canvas using the ‘rotate’ tool on Adobe Photoshop, which I have set up as a hotkey under ‘r’. This again emulates the traditional art process of rotating the paper or pad on a surface on order to make cleaner and more accurate lines and brush strokes. This isn’t really possible when standing at an easel, however, making this an exclusive benefit of digital painting over traditional.

Below are more of the digital painting steps as the painting gradually progresses.

Step 3 - Painting in more of the details.

Step 4 - Further refinement.

Step 5.

Step 6.

Step 7.

Step 8.

Getting closer to working on the final details in this step.

The finished painting.

Applying The Final Details

And for the final image I refined the details further focusing in on her facial expression and adding some bounce colour in the surrounding material and drapery. I use a small brush size for the final steps, so I can get into the important areas around the focal point (the face and features) and also to clean up lines and edges where I see I think it is necessary.

I write my signature, save the files, back them up and call the painting finished.

Check out my youtube video above for more insight into the background and process of this digital painting of Séilah.

Thank you all very much for reading, watching, liking and sharing.

If you would like to know about my future posts, join my mailing list below.

© 2020 Robbie Allen Artist. All images and content (c) copyright Robbie Allen