Bench Painting Holds a Special Meaning

I was out in Wallingford one day painting a scene at the corner of Center Street and Main Street of Moran’s The Dressing Room and other shops along the street, when a young mother came by and admired my work. She asked for a card, which I provided, and she went on her way. I give out cards a lot and I enjoy talking with passers by. I forgot about it until a few weeks later when she called me up and reminded me of our acquaintance. She had thought about my art, visited my Website, and liked it. With Christmas coming up, she thought that a unique gift that she could give to her husband would be a painting- but not just any painting. The subject was a special one. She told me the story of how her and her husband used to meet during her high school days at the Wallingford Country Club, which was a halfway point between both her and his houses. Later on, they went their separate ways, she married another man, had a family, subsequently divorced, and then reconnected with her high school sweetheart. This time the relationship stuck. She fondly recalled that he proposed to her at the bench where they used to meet all those years ago. This was what she wanted me to paint. It was a totally romantic gesture and it will make a unique and personal gift. The young lady met me at the Wallingford Golf Course and we scoped out the bench.

Meanwhile, the head groundskeeper came by to check us out. Alas, I was not allowed to set up on the course to paint, but I could come back and take photos of the bench and the surrounding area. I returned when the fall colors were bright and colorful, took several photos and sent them to the young lady. She wrote back, apologizing that the bench that she had pointed out was not the correct one, but rather another bench further down that we had first looked at. This information was revealed to her when her husband pointed out to their child the exact bench where he proposed to his wife while driving by the golf course. A close call, just in the nick of time!

I returned to the golf course and photographed the correct bench, got go ahead approval, and proceeded to paint a large, gallery-wrapped painting of the scene with some autumn color.

I recently delivered the finished painting and I believe that the young lady was very pleased with the results. I thought that it was a great idea for a very unique and personal gift for someone special.

Finding Vanishing Points When Painting Outdoors

According to Wikipedia, a vanishing point is a point in a perspective drawing to which parallel lines not parallel to the image plane appear to converge. The number and placement of the vanishing points determines which perspective technique is being used. The concept was first used by Renaissance artists such as Donatello, Masaccio and Leonardo da Vinci.


It is very important when painting outdoors to establish your vanishing points with objects, especially when painting buildings and structures. If you do not figure out your vanishing point early in your composition, your structure’s drawing may sit incorrectly and no amount of change, including values, painting technique, or even a great composition can fix it.
In my painting, "White Silo," the vanishing point is actually outside of the painting's left edge.

"White Silo" by Patty Meglio

Suppose that you are painting a building from a side view. A quick and easy way to figure out your vanishing point is to use your arms and feet as measuring devices. To do this with a building, face your building, and turn your left foot to line up parallel with the left side of the building. Raise your left arm and point it in the same direction as your foot, at eye-level. If you draw lines along your arm and from your foot outward, the point at which the lines meet will be your vanishing point. Do the same on the right side, with your right foot pointing outward parallel to the building’s right side, and your arm sighted along your eye-level looking towards the right. You now have two vanishing points from which you can measure the correct proportion of the sides of your building.

"The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci used perspective in this painting to draw the viewer’s eyes to Jesus as the star of his painting.

Da Vinci photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Finding Your Horizon Line

Perspective is a very important thing to grasp if you are a landscape painter, or for that matter, for any type of subject, even still life. However, to properly figure out vanishing points, aerial perspective, and reflections, you must know where your horizon line is. Understanding how to find the horizon line and to line up buildings and other objects properly to get the correct perspective is something that a lot of artists forget to do once they set up their easels. It’s very tempting to just throw some paint on the canvas and guess at the proportions, but you will end up spending more time scraping paint off and redoing your work if you don’t. Or, you will be disappointed at the results and not realize why it just doesn’t look right.

The first thing that you should do after you prepare your canvas is find the horizon line. To do this, you will need a straight object like a pencil or flat sided stick for measuring. I use a square edge dowel that is marked off with colored lines at one-quarter inch intervals. This dowel is about 12 inches long, with different colored marked lines for every inch. I use the different colored markings to measure and compare proportions of items in my picture. To find the horizon line, hold the stick or pencil out horizontally as straight as possible in front of you at your eye level. This will be your horizon line. If you are looking out from a high vantage point, your horizon line could actually be in the sky. Likewise, if you are looking towards a high point in a land mass, your horizon line will often be below certain aspects of the land mass or object.

You might want to do a few quick thumbnail sketches to figure out your design and where you would like to put your horizon line on the canvas. In most cases, it is best to avoid cutting the picture in half by centering the horizon line on your canvas. When you are ready, use a thinned transparent oxide red or brown or burnt sienna and draw the line, keeping in mind where your center of focus will be in your picture.

For my painting, Ship's Harbor, Maine, the horizon line is marked in yellow. This line was at my eye level from where I stood. I placed it high on my canvas so that I could focus on the rocks and grasses nearby and also so that I could include some of the water.

Seven Components in Painting

You should be mindful of the Seven Components when you undertake a painting. The drawing and composition, in my opinion, are the most important elements. Within each component is a checklist of things to watch for and to be aware of.

Drawing
It is so important to have a strong drawing, and a well thought out layout. If the drawing is weak, you will struggle with the paint in an effort to make it work.

1. Upside down - Check the painting upside down for errors in the drawing
2. Negative space
3. Proportion midpoint, relative, foreshortening
4. Anatomy
5. Perspective sighting, people, buildings, interiors, aerial
6. Gesture
7. Seeing vs. knowing

Tone Values
1. Shape of dark and light
2. Five tone values
3. Non-reflective light
4. Reflective light
5. Value dominance
6. Local value/home value

Found/lost Line
1. Contour drawing basic/one-line
2. Hard/soft edges

Rhythm of Application
1. Strokes
2. Paint quality
3. Sliced-bread theory
4. Slow strokes
5. Fast strokes
6. Long strokes
7. Short strokes

Composition
1. Imitate/emulate: studying old/new master paintings
2. Golden mean
3. Focal area
4. Twelve-shape design
5. Tie shapes together

Design of light
1. Color/ value dominance
2. Tangents
3. Balancing extremes
4. Cropping format
5. Working from photos
6. Setting up still life
7. One scene, four versions

Color
1. Tone value in color
2. Colorist vs. tonalist
3. Limited palette: one color, two colors, three colors, four colors
4. Bracketing your colors
5. Color and complement
6. Color dominance
7. Color temperature

Motivation or Concept: Why are you doing this piece?
1. Relaxation
2. Stress management
3. Nurturing your creativity
4. For a gift
5. Learn or improve certain skills
6. Impress friends
7. Rite of passage
8. Fun