How to Eat an Elephant
Painting is hard. Specifically, some subjects are challenging, much more challenging than others. To see a subject in our three-dimensional world, and then to render that subject on a paper or canvas in two dimensions is a daunting task for anyone. You are dealing with light, shadow, color, line, shape, perspective, etc. and it’s so easy to get overwhelmed and give up.
The well-known phrase “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time,” illustrates that a complicated task is more easily undertaken if the task is broken up into smaller parts, or one challenge at a time. St. Francis of Assisi said “Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
I get that. To me, getting the values (shades of light and dark) of a subject just right is absolutely necessary. It’s the first thing the viewer notices about a painting, and the light/shadow values are the basis of proper shape and perspective.
I learned a while ago to begin a painting by first completing a monochromatic underpainting, using only black, white and shades of gray in between. In classical painting methods, this is known as a grisaille underpainting. The masters used this approach often to get the values just right, before starting in on color. Other methods for using a monochromatic value underpainting include using shades of brown or even blue or green. An “open grisaille” refers to using one transparent dark color, thinning down and wiping out the paint to bring in the white of the canvas for the lighter areas, much like drawing on paper. Starting a painting with a value underpainting allows me to initially focus just on value, before bringing any color into it. (I often paint from a black and white photo of my subject at this stage.)
After the values are just right, I can then focus on color, painting over the dried underpainting with color while keeping each color at the same value I see in my grisaille. I have adopted this method for nearly all my paintings. I find that if I get the values just right first, then tackle color, a complicated subject becomes remarkably simpler.
I’ve been painting now for many years. Many subjects I really want to paint are incredibly complex (I’m drawn to detail). Those are the ones that initially fill me with panic, as I don’t know where to begin. If I remind myself to begin with what is necessary - values - I have a starting point. From there, it’s just one bite at a time!
