Wednesday, August 29, 2007

The Ninety Degree Rule



Sometimes I start a plein air painting and it just doesn’t click. Either the drawing doesn’t work out, or the light changes, or a big truck parks smack in front of me. That’s when I apply the Ninety Degree Rule.

Rather than wasting time searching around for another motif, I just turn 90 degrees to the side and paint whatever is there. In the case of this painting, Jeanette was standing at my side, so I just painted her.

5 comments:

  1. Mr. Gurney, I just discovered your blog and I find the advice very helpful! I was wondering, how do you deal with staring people when you are painting in public like this? I find my work suffers from my intense self-consciousness when I am being watched. I wish people weren't so nosy.

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  2. It sometimes rattles my concentration, too. I have a friend who smokes a smelly cigar——says it keeps away mosquitoes and onlookers. Another who plays King Crimson loud on headphones.

    I just try to make the best of it. People are understandably curious, because it's so fascinating to watch someone paint. I try to say a friendly hello, then just apologize and explain that I can't really converse because that would require both hemispheres of my brain to work at once. Most people then are pretty considerate, and the encounter is positive on both sides.

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  3. It was very considerate of Jeanette to stand still in just that position long enough for you to paint her:-)

    Most of your posts state what medium you used. I'm guessing watercolour, but the hues are quite vivid. Is it something else?

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  4. Jean, this one's oil. It's funny, Jeanette wasn't really holding still. As I recall she was moving around quite a bit.

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  5. Oil, yeah. That makes a lot more sense.

    Yep. I figured she was moving around a lot. I don't think she's one to stand still for very long. But you captured her as if she was standing still.

    I know. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more. It's fun trying to get there, even when it seems I'll never make it. Improvement it the name of the game for me:-)

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