Katherine Tyrrell: Ten Artistic Tips Learnt From The Big Painting Challenge (11 years later!)

Some of those contemplating entering one of the Artist of the Year competitions might find the tips below to be useful.

This is a reproduction of an article I wrote for the WH Smith Blog eleven years ago following (a) the Final of the The Big Painting Challenge and (b) the publication of my book Sketching 365. 

I found it by accident while searching for something else and realised I had completely forgotten about it! It also seemed very timely for a repost!

So here is Katherine Tyrrell: Ten Artistic Tips Learnt From The Big Painting Challenge

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Last Sunday was the final episode of The Big Painting Challenge. The series has offered a lot to opportunities to learn over the last 6 weeks – from the amateur painters as well as from the Judges Daphne Todd and Lachlan Goudie.

I’ve been following the series on my blog Making A Mark and have been writing a series of posts – one for each episode. These comment on the challenges and highlight tips as the series has progressed.

Below I’ve summarised some important tips which I’ve derived from the programme content and the comments of both judges and the amateur artists.

TOP TEN TIPS

Check out these tips if you’re thinking of entering an art competition on television – or just improving how you paint.

TIP 1: Observation is key.

It’s really important to look carefully whether you are painting a person, a still life, a landscape – or things which move and dance about and change while you watch! You will reap the benefits if you spend as much time looking as you do drawing and painting. Find the big shapes, the verticals, horizontals and angles and don’t forget to measure and check the size and relative proportions of what you can see.

TIP 2: Good drawing underpins sound construction.

When a drawing or painting does not look quite right it’s often down to a problem with the drawing. Problems with drawing often lie either in:

• A failure to observe carefully (see Tip 1)
• A tendency to simplify so as to ignore the difficult bits
• Unfamiliarity with a range of normal drawing media and the scope for making different marks (see Tip 3)
• Difficulties in placing an object on a page – leading to bits missing which you intended to include (see Tip 6)
• Difficulties in handling and mixing colour when using dry media rather than paint (Tip 8)

Identifying the nature of the problem with your drawing is your first step to learning how to correct it. Example: My major problem is my verticals often lean if I draw without thinking. My solution is to check how a major vertical lines up with the edge of the page as I draw it.

My book "Sketching 365" published internationally in 2015

TIP 3: Practice drawing quickly using different types of dry media.

Dry media was usually used for the quick draw exercises in The Big Painting Challenge but was not limited to pencils or charcoal. There was also little time for slow careful drawings! Moving on from graphite to use different types of dry media – and colour – challenged a few of the artists! Dry media are great for drawing and sketching. Try becoming more familiar with the properties of different types of dry media and also how they can be used intelligently to produce quick drawings. Not everything is drawn using a tip – you can also use the side and cover more paper faster! Drawing quickly is something that can be learned – but it takes practice

TIP 4: Become comfortable in working from life – as part of your daily life.

How to describe art

There are various terms and phrases used to describe different approaches tp the development of artwork and working from life and subject matter. 

Below are my interpretations of what these mean.

"Working from life" 

Working from life is a practice deeply rooted in artistic traditions - before photography and projectors and other forms of technology were invented. 

It is commonly used to mean working with the subject in front of you whether it's a landscape, an interior, a still life or a person.

No photographs are involved, there is no tracing or projection of the subject. The artist has to sight size the subject and make judgements about values and colours using their eyes and the experience and skills they have developed through working from life. 

Bottom line - it's essentially about:

• developing your skills by drawing from life a lot and 
• then trusting your eyes and drawing and painting what is in front of you.

Practice helps enormously with developing skills. A number of artists routinely make a point of keeping sketchbooks and drawing something from life each day

Family Pets make useful subjects as they tend to sit around a lot - waiting to be drawn!
This is a very fast pen and ink sketch of my sadly departed cat Cosmo
It's informed by having drawn him many times before
- so that I know what the key lines which need to be included
(Pen and ink; Katherine Tyrrell)

"Plein Air Painting" 

"en plein air" is a French term. It's frequently used to describe painting from life in the open air and out of doors and away from the studio. Devoted plein air painters keep painting whatever the weather!

Artists Sketching in the White Mountains by Winslow Homer (1836-1910)
1868, oil on panel, 24.1 × 40.3 cm,
Portland Museum of Art

It's also sometimes used as a euphemism for painting nature and the natural world. 

It mainly developed during the nineteenth century. The practice of paintings landscapes 'on the spot' became possible as technology advanced and allowed artists to use tube paint - rather than paint in bladders.

There are 

• numerous groups of painters devoted to plein air painting around the world - and some periodically host exhibitions.
• individual painters who make a career and develop a reputation for painting landscapes plein air - and some even record the process on Instagram! (see below)

The sketching equivalent in towns and cities is called "Urban Sketching".

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Peter Brown (@petethestreet1)

Other references:

• There is a succinct glossary entry defining "plein air" on the Tate Gallery's website

The French term plein air means out of doors and refers to the practice of painting entire finished pictures out of doors

• En Plein Air | The Art Story - provides a good narrative about how it developed over time. 
• There's a good description of plein air painting and how it came about on the website of the Plein Air Painters of America. 
• British Plein Air Painters - a group of professional artists based in the UK that share a passion for painting outdoors, in front of the subject, and capturing the essence of their surroundings with freshness and energy.
• Plein Air Painter has an article about Pete Brown who's known for painting outside whatever the weather.   

Working from life INDOORS