The Power of Compositional Studies with Ian Roberts
When you ask Ian Roberts (Ep.36) the quickest way to get better at painting, he doesn’t hesitate: Do compositional studies.
Here’s what Roberts means when he says compositional studies.
Compositional studies are small, value studies. Roberts encourages students to use a real still life scene you’ve set up at home. (Not photos.)
Roberts says your set up reference must have two pieces:
1. It should have a strong light.
2. It should be simple.
Put it to Practice:
The goal of these set ups is to create some simple where you can really hone in on the shapes themselves.
The strong light creates the shapes. The subject simplicity helps you see them.
We can learn to see things in simple setups that we can then take to more complex setups.
The reverse is much much harder.
For example, set up a coffee cup and a pitcher on a simple table. Turn off the ambient room light and shine a strong light on the left side. Squint to see the big value masses and then draw the value pattern onto your paper with your compositional study.
Try several of these.
Then move the light to the other side. Draw some more.
Move the cup and pitcher around. Move the light again. See how the compositional structure changes as you add or subtract shapes.
Now do it again with two cups or a plate or an apple.
This practice will begin to teach you how to see the big shapes of light and dark that make up a reference. This is foundational to being able to see good design.
And when you’re ablet o see these underlying light and dark structures and then translate them to paper, you’re going to have an easier time navigating more complex subjects.