How to Think Through a Scene with Ron Stocke
When Ron Stocke (Ep.78) looks for a good scene to paint, he will stop for beautiful light every single time.
Good light can do a lot of the heavy lifting, but there are other important decisions Stocke must make in pursuit of a beautiful painting.
Stocke is a watercolorist and he has to have real clarity about how he’ll approach a scene BEFORE he lifts a single brush. Once the paint starts flowing, he’s immediately working against a clock.
So before he begins mixing paint or wetting his surface, he looks at his scene and figures out six main things:
His focal point
Shapes can he connect
Painting’s temperature (warm vs cool)
The mood
What can he leave out
What he can add in to make it interesting
Put it to Practice:
These six considerations don’t take Stocke much time at this point. He’s done them so many times, they are now instinctual.
But if you don’t have practice making these sorts of decisions before a painting, you might find the process clunky at first.
The way it becomes easier is to first hold time for it. These types of choices will make your painting and your painting experience much more enjoyable.
Second, make notes. Do thumbnails. Begin building towards a specific painting with specific goals.
Use the list above and write down your answers so that they are real. Then refer back to that sheet to make sure you’re continuing to head in the right direction as you paint.
Eventually, like Stocke, this piece will become second nature, and your paintings will be stronger for the effort.