Synopses & Reviews
A fresh introduction to the fundamentals, conversations in paint (previously titled The Principles of Painting) is part painter's sketchbook, part philosopher's journal, part instructor's primer. If you paint, it will give new insight into your work. If you don't paint, it will inspire you.It is also a unique object in its own right, a book as work of art. Developed as a sketchbook, the pages are crammed with watercolor sketches that look as if they've been painted right on the page, plus diagrams, charts, and reproductions of old masters and contemporary artists. Quotations from Cezanne to such unexpected authors as Harvey Penick are printed in a specially designed typeface based on the author's handwriting, giving each spread the intimate, layered quality of Sara Midda's books. Indeed, the spread-designed with text, quotes, illustrations and captions, to be read and absorbed on its own-is the book's basic building block. Open the book anywhere and learn something new about painting. About seven ways an artist sees. About the language of line. About mood and the four ways to stimulate emotion. About perspective, light and shade, style, composition, drawing, technique, mass, scale. And, from a life-long teacher, a little section at the end of the book about "Learning-applicable to any area of life.
Synopsis
A work of theory made practical and a personal notebook made public, CONVERSATIONS IN PAINT is an innovative introduction to the language of painting-and how to speak it fluently.
In a series of succinct, two-page "conversations," inventively illustrated and buttressed by quotations from famous artists and teachers, Charles Dunn explains the rules to paint by. Here are the four principles of design: contrast, gradation, theme and variations, and restraint. The linear versus the painterly. Expression and mood. Open and closed color. The three-value system. One-point, two-point, and three-point perspective. Pieter de Hooch's virtual textbook on representing volume. Underpainting and layering. Plus value systems, studio habits, drawing techniques, insights into learning, and much more. A lifelong painter and student of painting, Dunn has distilled his years behind the brush into lessons that will benefit anyone, from beginner to accomplished artist.
Synopsis
A fresh introduction to the fundamentals, CONVERSATIONS IN PAINT is part painter's sketchbook, part philosopher's journal, part instructor's primer. If you paint, it will give new insight into your work. If you don't paint, it will inspire you. Open to any page and learn to see.
About the Author
Charles Dunn describes himself as a perpetual student. He took his first art lesson as a self-conscious adult at the Museum of Modern Art in 1967 and has been actively studying, teaching, painting, and showing work ever since.
Table of Contents
Introduction
SEEING
See for Yourself
Seven Ways the Artist Sees
The Language of Painting Aesthetic Conventions
Seeing in Symbols
Form Follows Function
Style
Exotic Locations and Local Equivalents
Learning from the Masters-Looking at Paintings
Tastes Change
PRINCIPLES
The Fatigue Mutations
Design-Contrast
Gradation
Theme and Variations-Major and Minor Themes
Restraint
Every Picture is Not a Painting
Center of Interest
Design Principles May Combine
Pattern
Organizing Principles
Element Patterns
Combining Patterns
Organizing Patterns
Balance
Passage and Counterchange
Patterns of Clarity and Interest
Type
Instinctive Types
Acquired Types
Formal Types
Using Type
Emotion
Mood
Stimulating Emotion
Organizing Emotion
MATERIALS
Color
Basic Characteristics Color in Nature and Paint
The Three-Value System
Relative Clarity
Secondary Characteristics
Color Relationships
Balance and Organization
Seven Ways to Use Color-Open and Closed Color
Line-Generating a Line
The Language of Line
Lost and Found Edges
Hierarchy of Edges
Texture-The Golden Section
Mass
Form Description and Surface Texture
Figure and Ground
Volume
The Picture Box
Perspective Defined
One-Point Perspective
Two- and Three-Point Perspectives
Proportional Division
Uphill and Downhill Illusions
Compromise Perspectives
Overlap Perspective
Aerial Perspective
Light and Shade
Scale
Volume Control
Look Into, Look Through, Look Over
The Sense of Space
THE BRIDGE
Style, the Bridge from Theory to Practice
Personal Profile
Procedure
Planning
The Notated Sketch
The Plan View
Pattern Schemes
Format and Horizon
Point of View and Key
Color Plans
Composition
Drawing
Painting
The Underpainting
Notan: The Second Layer
Layering
Editing-Spotting: The Final Darks
Calligraphy The Line-and-Wash Job
Framing
The Crit
Fine Points
Learning
The Purpose of Learning Apperceptive Mass
The Gateway to Learning
The Pathway to Memory
The Pleasure of Practice
The Autonomous Stage-The Antidote to Tension
Picture Credits
Bibliography