Compositional Dilemma at Greenlake Village

5/13/22 Greenlake Village courtyard (thumbnail)

 Enjoying coffee with a couple of sketcher friends recently, I made a few compositional studies as we chatted. The Greenlake Village courtyard is mostly in shade, which can be a problem (not to mention chilly), but it has enough skinny trees, benches and water features to keep it interesting. I chose the study I was most interested in (at left) to make a larger sketch in color (below). According to what I’ve been studying in Ian Roberts’ book and videos, I had simplified the scene and picked out a few strong lines and value contrasts to focus on.

A major risk in making a thumbnail study before the “real” sketch is that the second time isn’t fresh anymore. Since I had already sketched it, I got bored and started adding more to it. I cluttered up the composition that I had worked so hard to simplify in the thumbnail! When I realized what I was doing, I didn’t feel like finishing.

I like the thumbnail better.

Roberts stresses the importance of small studies to work out values and other compositional elements before beginning a painting because then the painter doesn’t have to worry about potential problems and is free to use color and brushstrokes to fully express the picture. I have trouble seeing values in color, so figuring those out first is definitely helpful.

Maybe my problem is that because I’m not making a painting as a final product, my “real” sketches are too similar to my thumbnails – the addition of color in a slightly larger size feels redundant and unnecessary. In any case, I certainly prefer my thumbnail to the second sketch.

On an earlier walk through the neighborhood, I had made some other small compositional studies (below). These took only about five minutes each, but I felt that they were finished – I had captured the essential lines and value contrasts, and to make them again larger and with color would not have added much.

5/11/22 Maple Leaf neighborhood

5/11/22 Maple Leaf neighborhood

5/11/22 Maple Leaf neighborhood

I seem to have stumbled upon another difference between thinking like a painter and thinking like an urban sketcher. Maybe I need to leave more out of the compositional studies so that I still have something to explore in the “real” sketches.