Painting Book Brief: Carlson’s Guide to Landscape Painting By John F. Carlson

The art of painting cannot be taught and therefore it cannot be learned. Art, much like music or architecture requires study but in these realms this means to practice. Intellectual or technical knowledge can serve as a fulcrum to the lever of practice. “...art is a thing so much of the imagination, of the soul, that it is difficult to descend to the fundamentals of technique and yet make it plain to the student that these are but the means and not an end to themselves.”

Carlson’s stated hope for the book is revealed in this chapter. “ It is my hope that in this book the student may find a guide to the technical knowhow that will serve him well in his own search for expressiveness and creativeness.”

Painting Book Brief: Carlson’s Guide to Landscape Painting By John F. Carlson

The Big Idea(s)

This book is so full of helpful information we can argue that each chapter has its own big idea to present to the world. While this is true, the main big idea enveloping all of it is the notion that a painter must learn by doing. Carlson stresses that strenuous practice is the key to becoming and remaining a competent painter. Education, lessons, books and teachers only provide a fulcrum for which the effort in practice can help a painter progress and improve. This seems to relate to the complexity of the task of painting and the stack of skills related to the elements that go into creating a painting and how they must be integrated into the process of creating art.

The Structure Introduction

Chapter 1 How to Approach Painting

Chapter 2 The Mechanics of Painting

Chapter 3 Angles and Consequent Values

Chapter 4 Design - A Pattern of Differing Value

Chapter 5 Light - Unity of Tone and the Meeting of Edges

Chapter 6 Aerial Perspective - Transition in Value and Color

Chapter 7 Linear Perspective

Chapter 8 Color - Its Emotional Value in Painting

Chapter 9 Trees - How to Understand Them

Chapter 10 Clouds - How They Float

Chapter 11 Composition - The Expressive Properties of Line and Mass

Chapter 12 The Main Line and Theme

Chapter 13 The Extraordinary and Bizarre

Chapter 14 Painting from Memory

Index

Notes

Introduction

Described by Howard Simon, who wrote the introduction to the book described Carlson as a “Verist.” I had to look this up. Turns out a Verist is someone who adheres to extreme naturalism The art of painting cannot be taught and therefore it cannot be learned. Art, much like music or architecture requires study but in these realms this means to practice. Intellectual or technical knowledge can serve as a fulcrum to the lever of practice. “...art is a thing so much of the imagination, of the soul, that it is difficult to descend to the fundamentals of technique and yet make it plain to the student that these are but the means and not an end to themselves.”

Carlson’s stated hope for the book is revealed in this chapter. “ It is my hope that in this book the student may find a guide to the technical knowhow that will serve him well in his own search for expressiveness and creativeness.”

in art. A form of realism. The word comes from the latin verus (true). Born in Sweden. Moved to the US and settled in Buffalo. Studied in New York City. Moved to Woodstock, New York. Lived in Colorado Springs for some time and painted all around the Western US. Then settled back in Woodstock.

Chapter 1 How to Approach Painting

Chapter 2 The Mechanics of Painting Summarized mechanical aid providing the author’s notes of all things he claims he wished he knew when he started painting. Basic ideas on materials, terms, tools and processes are all listed and summarized succinctly.

Chapter 3 Angles and Consequent Values The first of several theories representing an attempt to bring a fully integrated approach to landscape painting. In his theory of angles Carlson summarizes the importance of the relationship to the arrangement of the main shapes in a picture, their angles relative to the ground and sky plains and the impact that has on the values of each shape. Secondary ideas are put forth related to the expressiveness of painting in the attempt to develop “landscape sense.” For example creating a painting that communicates the weight of objects in a painting like the weight of a mountain or the feel of the float of a cloud. Technical ideas like the use of squinting or peering through eyelashes to help identify the values in a scene are also introduced.

Chapter 4 Design - A Pattern of Differing Value Brief chapter that covers the importance of the arrangement of major shapes in a painting. “Proportion is the soul of architecture and art, and if we can view our decorative composition as a study in proportion, we will have gained somewhat. A thing becomes interesting when it is well proportioned.” “Don’t paint “direct from nature”when all the elements of organization and beauty or design are palpably absent.” Find another motif. A motif that will lend to a pictorial end.Nature is seldom perfect in design. The artist must look to nature for inspiration but rearrange the elemental truths to an orderly sequence or progression of truths.”

Chapter 5 Light - Unity of Tone and the Meeting of Edges The art of painting cannot be taught and therefore it cannot be learned. Art, much like music or architecture requires study but in these realms this means to practice. Intellectual or technical knowledge can serve as a fulcrum to the lever of practice. “...art is a thing so much of the imagination, of the soul, that it is difficult to descend to the fundamentals of technique and yet make it plain to the student that these are but the means and not an end to themselves.” Carlson’s stated hope for the book is revealed in this chapter. “ It is my hope that in this book the student may find a guide to the technical knowhow that will serve him well in his own search for expressiveness and creativeness.” The importance of light is stressed and this is represented by the fact that this is one of the longer chapters in the book. “Light seems to be a thing apart from color and form, although it is the cause of both.”

Chapter 6 Aerial Perspective - Transition in Value and Color This chapter focuses on aerial perspective. Defined as the expression of space “by changes and gradations of color distinctness and hue.” Carlson sprinkles some clarifying thoughts and numerous diagrams, notes and black and white images of paintings to clarify his thinking. This chapter could also be called ”Atmospheric Perspective” a term many modern day painting teachers use to describe the same dynamics. One unique quality of Carlson's approach is “Every angle or plane of an element , flat lying, upright, arching or slanting, has within its “flatness” marvelous and subtle variations of both color and value. A color mass becomes beautiful only when it partakes in these changes.” “There is one rule governing color gradation, and that is: all colors become cooler as they recede from the eye, except white.” “A cooler color is one that has a preponderance of blue in its makeup, pure blue being, of course, the coldest.” “A warm color is one made up of yellows and reds.” Also… “All things become lighter in value as they recede from the eye. This makes all things become cooler and lighter in value as they recede into the distance.” Carlson defines this as “the law of diminishing intensity”. The attention to detail related to the nuanced implications of putting this law into practice is incredibly helpful. For instance Carlson explains that the bling effect of the atmosphere on all things receding into it has a greater effect on dark colors more so than half-darks or half-lights within a landscape.

Chapter 7 Linear Perspective The art of painting cannot be taught and therefore it cannot be learned. Art, much like music or architecture requires study but in these realms this means to practice. Intellectual or technical knowledge can serve as a fulcrum to the lever of practice. “...art is a thing so much of the imagination, of the soul, that it is difficult to descend to the fundamentals of technique and yet make it plain to the student that these are but the means and not an end to themselves.” Carlson’s stated hope for the book is revealed in this chapter. “ It is my hope that in this book the student may find a guide to the technical knowhow that will serve him well in his own search for expressiveness and creativeness.” Aerial perspective is the color diminution toward the horizon. Linear perspective is proportional diminution of sizes and forms toward the horizon or off into the distance. Yet again here Carlson stresses the importance of developing an intuitive approach to perspective and reiterates that this needs to be refined over time with consistent, sustained practice. Also, yet again Carlson stresses the importance of taking an approach that integrates all other elements while giving thoughtful consideration to all the plains in the scene.

Chapter 8 Color - Its Emotional Value in Painting This chapter provides insight into the subconscious, emotional impact of color. Carlson stresses the importance of thinking through the relational aspects of color choice, aligning them to the main idea(s) in a given painting, using color to define form, harmonizing a scene and enhancing the illusion of detail and depth. He encourages painters to think about color in terms of building harmony like a conductor might do at a symphony. At one point he states “only, think with your heart.” He even says at one point that “good color choice is really about good taste.”

Chapter 9 Trees - How to Understand Them Carlson encapsulates a mini treatise on trees in this chapter. “Know your trees, their nature, their growth, their movement; understand that they are living things with tribulations and desires not wholly disassociated from your own. Emerson has beautifully named trees, “rooted men.” In many ways they excel men.” “A tree seldom or never encroaches upon the liberty of another tree if it can be avoided.” “A tree recognizes that its liberty ends where the next tree’s liberty begins. A tree never wastes its growth in unnecessary twistings nor in frivolous waste of energy. If a tree is seen to twist and turn, these turns and twists are intimately connected with or in rapport wit the turnings and twistings of a neighboring tree. This negenders a certain rhythm or flow related to the lines in a wood” “A tree is a highly organized entity which when functioning in its realm becomes beautiful.” “Trees are individual beings; they can be comic, heroic, tragic to the sensitive practiced eye of the landscape artist.” A tree is a very useful piece of material in landscape painting and can be move about in your composition.” The art of painting cannot be taught and therefore it cannot be learned. Art, much like music or architecture requires study but in these realms this means to practice. Intellectual or technical knowledge can serve as a fulcrum to the lever of practice. “...art is a thing so much of the imagination, of the soul, that it is difficult to descend to the fundamentals of technique and yet make it plain to the student that these are but the means and not an end to themselves.” Carlson’s stated hope for the book is revealed in this chapter. “ It is my hope that in this book the student may find a guide to the technical knowhow that will serve him well in his own search for expressiveness and creativeness.” Throughout this chapter there are incredible ideas shared about how to better understand trees, their relationship with the broader landscape, how to practice rendering trees and enhance their beauty within a painting.

Chapter 10 Clouds - How They Float Carlson encapsulates another mini treatise on clouds in this chapter. Here he explains that the sky's the key to the landscape. “Its majesty permeates outdoor nature. It is the dictator of the conditions and moods.” He goes on to describe clouds as “the agents of dynamic forces.” “Clouds are fascinating to paint because they are the only element in a landscape painting that possesses free movement.” Carlson spends a brief time connecting the scientific classification of cloud types: cumulus, stratus, cirrus and nimbus. He goes on to include simplified hand sketched diagrams of each which can be very helpful. Especially when considering how to move cloud shapes around in a painting to help enhance composition. One interesting concept “floated” in this chapter is the idea that the clouds and sky actually create a feeling or theme for the day which will permeate an entire scene. Also, in this chapter Carlson begins to include references to nautical terms like “point of wind” which in this case is relevant to the perspective that can be seen in nature when observing clouds, Whereby on a cloudy day clouds appear to come from one corner of the sky - in painting this can aid in the creation of perspective with the cloud plain in the scene.

Chapter 11 Composition - The Expressive Properties of Line and Mass Here Carlson explores the emotional impacts that line and mass configurations have on viewers and offers excellent, succinct suggestions for building impactful paintings, intentionally. “Art is only art when it is confined within a self-imposed form. A sonata in music, an ode in poetry… these become works of art through conformation to a form. Any artistic expression is most beautiful when it does not obviously follow the fixed form.” “A work of art possesses a calm dignity that waits quietly to enthrall the eye and soul.” The art of painting cannot be taught and therefore it cannot be learned. Art, much like music or architecture requires study but in these realms this means to practice. Intellectual or technical knowledge can serve as a fulcrum to the lever of practice. “...art is a thing so much of the imagination, of the soul, that it is difficult to descend to the fundamentals of technique and yet make it plain to the student that these are but the means and not an end to themselves.” Carlson’s stated hope for the book is revealed in this chapter. “ It is my hope that in this book the student may find a guide to the technical knowhow that will serve him well in his own search for expressiveness and creativeness.” Carlson, much like Edgar Payne in his book Composition of Outdoor Painting, but to a lesser extent, makes an effort to codify forms of composition that can increase the success of a painting. All complete with hand drawn sketches of diagrams depicting his favorite designs: The Restful Line, The Lyrical or Playful Line, The Sombre or Upright Line, The Tragic or Disturbed Line. Carlson also makes suggestions related to the interplay and relationship of color to composition which can be helpful.

Chapter 12 The Main Line and Theme By line in a picture Calrson means the quality of having a beginning, a main body and an end. In my mind, it's kind of like a well crafted story. For beginners it is suggested that we should try to keep our most vital and saturated color or color harmonies somewhere near the center of our design. Also arrange the lines of your prominent masses so that they point inward toward the center of the picture. In the best pictures it is difficult to discover just why the different forms of dark and light arrange and flow so beautifully, one into another. But they do this. Calrson encourages us to not be afraid to labor too much over composition. This is a recurring theme throughout this book and this chapter. He stresses that he has seen more promising students with more talent get overtaken in painting quality and productivity over time by others possessing far less natural talent who just got better at arranging lines and composition by focusing more time and effort on this key skill.

Chapter 13 The Extraordinary and Bizarre “This chapter is only concerned with warnings not to search for curiosities to paint but to try rather to thoroughly study and understand things around you.”

Chapter 14 Painting from Memory According to Carlson enough stress cannot be laid upon the importance of memory work when it comes to painting. The effort to build a logical case for this is commendable. Carlson states the following while doing so: The art of painting cannot be taught and therefore it cannot be learned. Art, much like music or architecture requires study but in these realms this means to practice. Intellectual or technical knowledge can serve as a fulcrum to the lever of practice. “...art is a thing so much of the imagination, of the soul, that it is difficult to descend to the fundamentals of technique and yet make it plain to the student that these are but the means and not an end to themselves.” Carlson’s stated hope for the book is revealed in this chapter. “ It is my hope that in this book the student may find a guide to the technical knowhow that will serve him well in his own search for expressiveness and creativeness.” Mood is the prime differentiating quality between a sketch and a picture. If impression is the mother of impression then the more poignant impressions that a sensitive brain stores up the more likelihood of some future expression. As we become more aware of how our memory works we see that the memory exaggerates the essentials while the trifles and insignificant elements become blurred. Carlson states in his own way that mastery of rendering paintings from memory can translate to a better ability to filter reality and compose better paintings. He goes on to say that memory work is the best method for developing landscape sense. It also helps develop the power of invention.

Index

Favorite Quotes “Since art is long and time is short, I firmly believe in letting the expert prepare my materials for me.” (pg 31)

“The student should acquire the habit of facilitating his efforts by eliminating as far as possible all unnecessary handicaps. There are enough necessary ones.” (pg 32)

“In landscape painting the thing is the “landscape sense,” a sense that makes us feel the weight of the mountains, the float of a cloud, feel the rhythmic reach of a tree, the hardness of a stone.” (pg 35)

“There probably never was a picture that was poor because it lacked detail or subject-matter; rather the opposite. Bad paintings are usually so overloaded with useless detail that the essentials are obliterated.” (pg 41)

“When we speak of light we mean that enveloping, radiating, diffusing something that transmutes our everyday world into a livable and beautiful place.” (pg 53)

“We do not paint “exact” colors; we paint them as they impress us, differently every day.” (pg 54)