Paul Ingbretson Talks About Painting

How I use small painted studies before executing large impressionist work. Several studies are compared with the final work. In response to Richard QUESTION: I'm curious about what sort of preliminary work or process you might use or recommend before actually starting to paint a still life or portrait, e.g. looking through a view finder until the set-up looks right, small color study, etc? In Response to Richard

The previous video, ‘self-portrait,’ is further reviewed to help with understanding this approach to the direct painting methods Paul uses; the reason behind the ‘all over the place’ - ‘everything at once” way of working; and the importance of accuracy of impression, breath of impression, order of appearances, as well as composition itself in the lay-in. Quote: The key to the mystery lies in his phrase “First you classify the values.” This means that before beginning to paint, you pass an abstract judgment on the “values” - the tones of light and the dark in your subject. These are the darkest darks, these the lesser darks. These the lights. These the high lights. And there will be intermediates. Nor do you start with extremes of tone. You work from the middle tone, up and down, that you may be carrying your drawing correctly. If this procedure is successfully carried out, every tone will be in an observed relation to every other, and your painting will bear the same relation to the subject “out there” that a piece of transposed music bears to the piece in the original key. Transposition is required because the gamut of light and dark in oil paint is smaller than the corresponding gamut in nature. The surprise is that this approach is more true to nature than when the tones are “copied” piecemeal. The result is truth of relation. -William James, nephew of Henry James QUESTION: Could you talk more about moving the “ingbretson” start to the next level? In Further Response to Several People

A small self-portrait demonstrating the second day of work over a fully dried ‘start.’ Shows how the approach to the whole lay-in continues to be applied in smaller areas and how to think of which areas to work on next. Think ‘fractals’ and you may have some clarity. QUESTION: Can you show what you do next after the lay-in? In Response to Several Queries

The Center of Interest and its surroundings must hang together. Creating a great center of interest is essential but does not necessarily lead the process which, given a fixed architectural setting, for example, may not even be possible. In Response to a Recent composition workshop participant QUESTION: In your workshops you have shown how you evolve a composition from the center of Interest but you have also described Gammell, Pleissner and Gerome putting the figures, the center, into a landscape or architectural setting. Is there an absolute best way or how do you determine when to do which and what difficulties might be involved whatever your decision?

The impressionist works all over the place at once in the start setting up the whole composition and the general impression moving gradually to whatever degree of finish is desired. This is a discussion of what, if anything, changes in this way of working when approaching a more refined execution. In response to Dan QUESTION: Can you speak to the concept of working all over the place at once versus working section by section ( area by area- for some- object by object) . Does this change from the establishment of the start ( covering a larger area) to higher levels of finish ( spending more time with specifics)? Is this based on practical ( wet in wet) and visual ( hierarchy of importance) concerns? DAN

Discussion of various aspects of composition and particularly the interplay between “rules” and logic and the strictly intuitive, the “deeper” personal response.. In Response to Richard QUESTION: I have read many things about design, composition and “rules” one can apply. I get the sense that distinctive design is largely a matter of understanding the core features (line-value-color as you point out ) and developing an instinct for what will work best for the situation at hand. As with good drawing, I don’t believe it’s a matter of merely getting things correct as by measuring for example. One can compose according to rules and still end up with a boring picture. To make music as you wisely point out should not a sense of design come from some deeper place? Richard

Three queries lead to a minor discussion of aspects of color including color relations, ‘dead’ color and the meaning of chroma or intensity. In Response to Carol, Richard and Gail QUESTION: Please talk about color relationships either in Degas, Monet, etc or in a still life setup. Carol I would be interested if you had any thoughts on these quotes: From Shop Talk by Gammell “When a dealer inquired what he used to get colors of such brightness, Degas retorted, ‘Dead Color, sir.’” And from Beson: “ A real artist is constantly looking for, searching out, the places in a picture which are not brilliantly colored. The neutral colors-Tarbell calls them the dirty colors. Without them the rest lose their effect. Richard What is meant by chroma versus values and hue? Gail

About painting fleeting effects and impressionist vs. illustrative necessities. The inherent difficulties and limits, especially outdoors, of just sitting down and painting what you see and when, if ever, to use studies or photographic data. In Response to James QUESTION: I understand your aversion to photo references, but could you address the logistic issues of painting in natural light without such? In this example, that shadow is going to move across the wall and be out of the frame in an hour or so. A landscape might be more forgiving, but any natural light impression is going to be gone by evening. I can imagine how Cezanne or Monet could finish most of their pictures in a couple of hours, but the kind of work you and the Boston school painters do must take many days or weeks. I know the story about John Singer Sargent dragging his models out to the garden every day at exactly the same time for two summers in a row to complete “Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose” in just the right light, but even he couldn’t do that all the time. Do you make sketches and color studies and work from them as a reference? Do you try to get the key “visual order” spots down and do the rest from memory? Or is there another way? James

Short discussion of how and when a painter must stay clear of - and just to what extent he also works from - prior knowledge. QUESTION: What does it mean to have an “innocent” or “naive” eye in painting and, as Archie Bunker asked, exactly what is it innocent of? Anon

Two individuals asked about how to acquire some of the skills necessary to our approach to painting from life: a)grasping and b)establishing leading points. In Response to Jason and Gail QUESTION: It looks to me like getting the correct placement of the leading elements correct is the biggest challenge. How long does it take your students to develop accuracy at that? If a student has never worked that way before, should they start with a lot of quick pencil or charcoal sketches like gesture drawings. How do you recommend starting to work this way? Gail After watching your DVD pencil drawing in the visual order, and having done some work in the sight-size method, as well as worked with construction drawing, how would you recommend a beginning student develop their eye with the visual order in mind? That is considering things like proportion, line, and value are yet to be under the control of the student. Should a student be using a needle and plumb line, is there any reason a student need to learn to do an outline (in reference to Gammell), shape, value etc.. essentially how does one learn to see? When considering that all things in drawing and painting being relational, the visual order makes the most sense, but its rather a daunting task when training the eye from the start to consider the possibilities. Jason

Continuation of discussion of the way of working of R. H. Ives Gammell with Paul and fellow student, Thomas R. Dunlay. This segment focuses on actual works brought in for the purpose. In response to Kofi QUESTION: Paul, could you talk a bit about Gammell's Hound of Heaven series and his process for it? I'm assuming parts of it were done from imagination, and if so, what parts and how? Would he have referenced models or would he have constructed figures from imagination like other American illustrators of his generation? If construction was involved, how did that fit into the Boston school rhetoric of working from the visual impression if there was no impression to be observed in the first place? Kofi

A discussion with another Gammell-trained painter, Thomas R. Dunlay, about aspects of the approach of R. H. Ives Gammell to making his own pictures. In Response to Kofi QUESTION:Paul could you talk a bit about Gammell's Hound of Heaven series and his process for it? I'm assuming parts of it were done from imagination, and if so, what parts and how? Would he have referenced models or would he have constructed figures from imagination like other American illustrators of his generation? If construction was involved, how did that fit into the Boston school rhetoric of working from the visual impression if there was no impression to be observed in the first place? Kofi

Guy sent photos of stages of his lay-in which Paul reviews and critiques with a view to suggesting what one might do differently when working in the ‘visual order’ or, if you like, the Boston School methods. Among the points is that we do color all the time along with effect based drawing. In Response to Guy QUESTION: If you have the time (and I don’t expect that) then it would be useful, and hopefully for others, to see what part of the process I have grasped and where I could have done better. I am more than happy for you to publish any of this online if it helps. I have photographed this painting at five stages including the setup so you can see where I positioned myself in relation to the still life. Guy

Mairi sent copies of a couple stages of her ‘start’ which she did from a photograph. This is an attempt to point out - using charcoal on photographs of her images - what areas should remain unified in the lay-in and which areas to work on with great care. QUESTION: Today I began a painting that uses the many things I have gleaned from your vids. See visual order, paint light to dark, paint spots, paint affects, see the whole while painting a spot. Attached are photos showing how I did it so far, Can you say if I’m on the right track? Mairi

Showing how we think of “exits.” A term used for areas of contrast that are cut off by the frame. They appear almost like doorways in an architects floor plan of a room. Exits are so called because they tend to take the eye out of the picture. In Response to Brett QUESTION: What exactly is an "exit?" What is its function in visual language? A way of implying context? Brett

This is a demonstration of the way Paul starts virtually everything but in this case it is an hour-long charcoal. It shows how to draw using only visible data - without using sight-size, construction drawing, or any preliminary measuring or non-visual constructs.

A conversation about the use of the ‘visual order’ approach in plein air painting and whether what is done outdoors is different from what is done indoors. Do best practices change depending on the subject? In Response to Norma QUESTION: Would you please describe how to translate painting in the visual order in a still life to painting plein air? Norma

This is a demonstration showing my colors and my way of using the palette to systematically compare value/color/chroma for adjusting color notes on the canvas. In Response to Mairi QUESTION: Before you begin a painting, do you premix colours so they are all ready allowing you to flow with the process of marking effects, or do you mix new colours as you go from effect to effect, or do you use pure colour at the start? Mairi

About how the best painters are systematic and methodical which requires constant use of the mind and, of course, training in best practices. But what does a painter think about especially an impressionist? In Response to Brett QUESTION: “You have to be in your eyes." Wonderful way to put it. Actually, for me, this means turning off the part of the brain that thinks. It is a disagreeable experience Brett

Degas does things as an imaginative painter and pastellist, and this video covers the various steps in the process. In response to Andris QUESTION: Can you talk about the painting method of Edgar Degas? It seems like he used a bright under-painting layer but I am not sure. Andris

Color is the most underrated part of a picture yet as one of the three basic elements of visual content it is important that it be handled aesthetically at all times, as well as appropriately used to produce mood, and other narrative support. Dedicated to Chris Sheldon

A discussion of the difference between the methods of academics before impressionism and those of post impressionist realists specifically the Boston School and as it pertains to drawing with color. In Response to Alastair

Picture composition or design, like color, contains distinct elements that need to be thought through with and independent of each other. Becoming systematic or deliberate,is crucial; being visual is key. In Response to Alastair

The work of Ingres and the Boston School are each beautiful but in significantly different ways which are discussed in this talk. In Response to Margie

Having been a student of both sight-size and relational painting, Paul gives insights into the reasons for choosing the latter in Talks #99 and #100. He uses the Semyon Bilmes essay on Sight-size as a place of departure. In Response to Lynne M