Unity in Pictures - No. 71

Unity in painting comes in every area of the work from narrative, to the mood, to the abstract elements. This is a review of what comprises it.

QUESTION: I was reviewing earlier talks where you discuss Robert Douglas Hunter's work. It led me to a few of his demos on youtube where he starts a landscape with no drawing, and he talks about getting the brush going in every direction, and he says that paintings will finish themselves if done this way. I was wondering then if his still lifes were done this same way, with no drawing? Also, in relation to what Richard writes below, Robert Douglas Hunter stresses that "the one element that all great painting has in common is a sense of unity". I was wondering if you could talk more about this subject of unity in a painting. Jack

“People untrained in the art of painting believe finish is attained by adding detail to detail and dismiss it as a mere bi-product of industry and patience. Unfortunately this view does not correspond with the truth. For an essential characteristic of all fine painting is unity of effect, and this unity is destroyed by any detail stated in a false relation to other component parts of the picture. ....To achieve this end, each detail must be set down with just the degree of definition and coloration which it holds for the eye when the focus of vision is adjusted so as to include the entire scene depicted.” Gammell (Bunker) RICHARD