Watery Reflections

Reflections give dimension to a picture, add color and depth, and suggest a mood. A reflection is not a mirror image of the object, though it may seem that way. When you paint a reflection, you are painting a distorted version of the reflector and its environment.

There are a few things to keep in mind when painting reflections. It’s important to determine the perspective of the reflectors, and your distance from them will determine the size and shape of the reflections. The type of surface of the reflector is also important. Is the reflected surface rough or smooth? A rougher surface gives a rougher, more distorted reflection, while a smooth surface’s reflection can be very clear.

Reflections are commonly found in water ways of all types because of the very nature of water. They also originate in inert objects like mirrors and shiny objects, like metals, and transparent objects like glass. The following are some considerations when painting subjects in water, such as buildings, the sun and the surrounding scenery and sky.

Reflections and Color

• Dark colors in dry land become lighter when reflected in the water
• Light colors on dry land become darker when reflected in the water.
• The colors of the sky appear slightly darker on the surface of the water

Distance

The distance of the viewer to the water affects how clearly the image of the earth and sky are reflected.

• When painting objects next to the water, the shadow cast by these objects usually makes it easier to view down below the surface, as the object blocks the reflection of the sky.
• When standing close to calm water, the viewer will see only a weak reflection. Farther away, water will reflect details, acting nearly like a mirror.
• When observing dirty water from a close distance you will be able to see the overall color of the water itself.

Shapes & Angles Reflected in the Water

Reflected images should not be rendered exactly as a mirrored object. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• The reflected scene in the water is the actual object reflected from two different angles.
• The reflected image in the water bounces off the surface of the water.
• What you actually see is the reflected scene below the surface from an angle for as far as your eyes can see.
• You are actually seeing more below the reflected objects and even reflection of objects that you cannot see at all when you look directly at them.

Painting Ripples

Ripples combine the reflected colors from light and dark areas.

• Use quick, energetic brushwork with side to side strokes of a thin brush.
• Drag paint from dark reflected objects quickly into the light areas, clean the brush, then drag the paint from the light areas back into the dark.

“Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. “   

-         Charles Dickens

Three-Point Perspective

Most of the time, one- or two-point perspective is what you will use when drawing. It’s often the view that you will see when you are observing something from a normal eyesight level. However, when you are viewing a scene from a more extreme position, you’ll want to use three-point perspective.
For example, you will use three-point perspective when you want to give the impression of looking up at a subject from a low position or down at it from a higher position.

A word of caution: your eyes can play tricks on you when you are trying to determine the perspective of an object. Remember to always use some form of measurement when deciding where to place your vanishing points and to determine the size of your subjects. It’s helpful to use a straight edge ruler when working with perspective and to practice drawing it on paper before you commit to other media.

Drawing a Three-Point Perspective

The following is an example of how to draw a three-point perspective.

First, start with a two-point perspective: Mark two vanishing points on a horizon line. Then, draw a line from each vanishing point to a point that will mark the bottom corner of a set of blocks, forming a “V”. Draw two more lines from the vanishing point to the first lines.

Directly below the front corner of the nearest rectangle, put a mark. This will be your third point.

Now, draw a line to the bottom corner of rectangle block, ending it a bit above the third point.

Connect the lines from the top edges of the rectangles to the third point.

Draw a line that begins at both vanishing points and ends at the bottom of the line of the nearest block.

The green line shows the group of blocks with the three-point perspective.

The Passing of a Legend

On April 18, 2021, the art world lost a modern legend, Richard Schmid. Richard Schmid was and will always be an artist that I look up to and one that I have learned a great deal about art and how to paint. I have almost all of his books and DVDs, and I refer to them often, their pages well-worn and many sections streaked with yellow highlights. Now as an art instructor, I often turn to them for inspiration for art instruction. Some of you may have seen some of his work, heard me talk about him or read about him in my past art emails.

My admiration for Richard Schmid goes back several years when I was just beginning to look for alternative art education. In 2007, I was searching the Internet for artists who were hosting workshops in the New England area and came across an artist named Albert Handel. I loved his style, which was modern impressionistic, and I wanted to learn his methods. He worked both with oils and pastels, and his paintings would sing with color in a relaxed manner that belied years of practice. 

I saw that he and Anita West were going to do a five-day workshop in Putney, Vermont at the Village Arts of Putney, a reclaimed New England barn turned art studio, so I decided to sign up for it. The first four days were spent at the barn and on location with Handel and West with demonstrations and plein air painting. I was in heaven! On the last day, we were all treated to an indoor still life demonstration by both Handel and the secret bonus artist: Richard Schmid. I had heard of Richard Schmid, read a lot about him and loved his work, but my painting studies came a little late and I missed being able to take instruction from him.

 Nancy, Anita, and Albert.

I couldn’t believe my luck when they told us that he and his wife Nancy, who is also a fabulous artist, would be there that day. He and Albert painted, each from their own angle, and the class took up positions behind them and watched in awe as both of them turned out terrific paintings, each in their own style, in less than four hours. Richard spoke about his love of his craft, intertwining serious thoughts about art with delightful jokes as he worked, but Albert was mostly quiet and took Richard’s occasional ribbing with graceful ease. They were lifelong friends, so as he worked, Richard regaled us with wonderful stories of their adventures painting together.

 Richard painting a floral still life.

Albert's pastel rendering.

I consider myself very lucky to have met Richard and be in his presence as he constructed another masterpiece in front of a enthralled group of students. From my notes of that day: “But the best part was meeting Richard Schmid and Nancy Guzik, and getting to watch Richard paint-what a treat!” and, “When Richard painted, all of his strokes were deliberate. He never repainted over an area, and he thought out every stroke.” As you can tell, I was captivated by his methods. I was also entranced by Albert’s pastel rendering, which was so deceptively casual and bursting with color.

Village Arts of Putney

At the end of the session, Richard, Nancy and Albert answered questions and signed books and prints. I bought two beautiful prints, one of Nancy’s and one of Richard’s, and a signed copy of Richard’s first book, Alla Prima, Everything I Know About Painting.

In 2008, I drove up to Putney, Vermont on Saturdays to take classes at the Village Arts of Putney with one of Richard’s students, Jack Keledjian. It was a fun place to gather with like-minded artists and to share our thoughts on art and painting, and it’s a memory that I will always treasure.

Additional reading: Richard Schmid

“Each one of us is here to make this world a better place through our art. What you create is important and who you are is to be treasured, and that together we can fill this world with beauty and make it a better place for all.”                                                                                        -           Nancy Guzik

“The most enjoyable experience for me is still plein air painting … and its natural companion, alla prima (painting from life),” writes Schmid. “What could be more exhilarating than getting out under a great sky and feeling a fresh breeze while I paint the delights of nature? Painting on the spot from life is the method I learned from the start of my training, and the one I regard as the most challenging and therefore most rewarding.”                                                                              - Richard Schmid

Two-Point Perspective

Recently, I presented an example of one-point perspective that uses one vanishing point. This week, I’d like to talk about another type of perspective in the Linear Perspective group, the two-point perspective. Two-point perspective is mostly evident in street and building scenes, as well as interiors. However, whenever there is a need to project depth and dimension, you will find that understanding two-point perspective will help in sizing and drawing all of your subjects.

The “two point” in a two-point perspective grid is referring to two different vanishing “points,” where each becomes an anchor that we use create a 3D object on a 2D plane (your canvas or paper).

Typically, these two points are at the opposite sides of the composition, with one on the far left and another on the far right.

Create a Two-Point Perspective Box or Building

To create a two-point perspective box or building, draw a straight line on a sheet of paper. This will be your horizon line or sight line. Place two points at opposite sides on the line.

Now, draw a line where the corner of your box or building will be in relation to the horizon line.

Connect the top and bottom of the corner line to both vanishing points.

Draw more lines that begin at the vanishing points and end at the lines that connect the corner line.

Draw perpendicular lines to finish the outlines of your box or building.

You can use this method to draw street scenes, such as this one. In this case, the vanishing points are off to the right and left of the scene, the horizon line cutting through the building horizontally.

“Perspective is to painting what the bridle is to the horse, the rudder to a ship.”

-Leonardo da Vinci

More on Perspective

Last week I wrote about how, with linear perspective, an object appears to diminish in size as the distance from the viewer increases. Linear perspective is a way to create an illusion of spatial depth in your artwork. It enables you to replicate a 3-D object on a 2-D canvas or drawing surface.

There are three types of linear perspective drawing: one-point perspective, two-point perspective, and three-point perspective.

One-Point Perspective

One-point perspective is a type of drawing created on a 2D plane that uses one point in the distance (the vanishing point) from which everything in the drawing is set out.

One of the best illustrations of single-point perspective is to imagine that you’re looking at a straight road. All of the elements of the composition—particularly the road itself—will converge at a single point on the horizon line.

Single-point perspective can be at any point along the horizon line; the only stipulation is that all lines lead to the solitary point.

 “Art happens-no hovel is safe from it, no prince can depend on it, the vastest intelligence cannot bring it about.”

-James Abbott McNeil Whistler

The Horizon Line and Linear Perspective

 Linear perspective is a method of representing space in which the scale of an object diminishes as the distance from the viewer increases. Essentially, objects that are farther away from us appear smaller than those that are near. 

A horizon line is the intersection of where the ground or body of water meets the sky. The point at which diminishing directional lines meet on a horizon line is called the vanishing point. A city street is a great example of linear perspective. 

On this photo, you can take a ruler and run a line along both sides of the sidewalk into the distance to where they converge. The red dot in the second picture represents the sidewalk vanishing point on the horizon.

Skyline Vs. Horizon Line

Be careful not to confuse the skyline with the horizon line.

The skyline is also where the sky and land meet, but is generally in reference to mountains, which are almost always above the actual horizon line/eye level. The red line in the second photo shows the horizon line.

Scumbling

What I find so compelling about painting with oils is that there are so many ways to apply it. To make a strong statement, you can lay it on thickly like impasto. Thick paint goes hand in hand with coarse brushwork, often using bristle brushes to create a raised effect. The result immediately draws the viewer’s attention, and the three-dimensional strokes can evoke strong emotion. Oil paint applied thinly is equally great for portraits and realistic styles because you can softly blend areas while the paint is still wet, thus creating a subtle transition from one color to another. Another method of paint application that involves a “blend” of two colors is scumbling.

Scumbling is a painting technique that can be used to modify the color on a canvas, using a thin layer of paint. The under layer must first be dry. Using a dry bristle or synthetic brush or a clean lint-free rag, dip the brush or rag into a slightly thinned, semi-opaque color and loosely brush or scrub it on over the under layer with a circular or back and forth motion, only partly covering it. The scumble color should be lighter than the under layer to be most effective.

 A unique look can be achieved by using a complementary color as the scumble color, for example, a cadmium red over a viridian green. When it dries, you will notice that the green will resonate through the red layer. Similarly, you can cool down a hot color by scumbling over it with blue or green mixed with a little titanium white.

Here's the final result of my Composition painting with a scumbled background.

It’s a great technique that is worth investigating. I’ve applied a scumble layer to dark backgrounds with great results. Give it a try!