Neadeen Masters CDA - Country Carousel Art©

Backgrounds

One of the most common questions that I am asked, is how to go about choosing a background colour and what are the rules for changing a background colour?

Changing or choosing are two different topics, I'll address 'changing' first.

Changing - (the design has already been painted, the background is already part of the established colour scheme)

1. Take a look at the overall design and ask what key it is painted in? High, medium or low key? light, medium or dark 'range' of colours? - now you will know what 'value' to look for when you choose another hue to replace the one you already have.
2. Ask what temperature is being used for the background? Is it a warm or cool colour, or neutral or neutralized colour? Remember the design must 'sit' on the background, not always float above it, and temperature will play a big role here. The back elements in the design should be closer in temp, value & intensity to the background.

Now there are two important facts answered here, you now know what value and what temperature to look for with your 'new' colour. If this is the only aspect of the design you are prepared to change, then you may replace (same with same) similar value and similar temperature. Choosing another colour family will now be a little easier, as long as you pick one of the existing colours from within the colour scheme of the actual the design.
Adjust the value, temp and intensity, so that it closely matches the value, temp. and intensity (bright or dull) of the one you are going to replace. (All this said, this will only work, IF the previous artist knew what they were doing when they painted the design in the first place!!)

'Choosing'-a background for a new painting is a little easier, but you must have a plan or colour scheme first, then go from there. Buy the outfit, then choose the shoes and purse! The colour you select for the background covers the greatest area of the painting, so be sure that this colour is always quiet enough to 'stay' in the background, yet still be part of the overall painting. If it isn't, it will become a distraction. I always choose my background colour from my chosen colour scheme, it is always dulled, neutralized, and cooler THAN the overall design.
In painting, everything is relative to something else, the background is relative to the design.

Cooler than, doesn't mean you can't use warm colours, it just means that 'relative to' the rest of the design, the background is cooler THAN. Colour choices are always made by asking on one sure thing.. relative to what?
A good starting tip in selecting a background colour, is to know what the qualities of the focal point area are, and then do the opposite for the background. If you will have a very warm light, bright, focal point area, then choose a darker, cooler, duller colour for the background. The opposite will also work.

Which is better solid or mottled
Another question that is often asked by painters, is what about a solid background versus a mottled or scumbled one? Which is better?
A mottled or scumbled background is when you work 'wet in wet' and apply different values and hues, blending them together with a slip slap method. My favorite is by far the scumbled background. From my experience a 'mottled' or 'scumbled' background is always more interesting, and has many logistical and technical advantages over a flat basecoated one. If you look at the painting of the rabbit and young bull below, you will see that I have used a scumbled background. Since there was only one main element in the compositions, the rabbit and the bull, I was able to repeat some of the warmer tones into my predominantly cooler backgrounds. This helps to pull the paintings together as one, making the subject part of the background.


1. It gives you the ability to create better colour balance within the painting, as you can then repeat some of the other colours from the design into the background, helping with flow and movement through the painting. Carry colour.
2. It also gives you the ability to reinforce the direction of your light source within the painting, helping with the mood.
3. It also affords you a better opportunity to create atmospheric perspective or (depth) from, and between, the elements within the design. You can adjust the value and temperature of the 'scumbling' behind some elements to help make them hold their position better, within the total painting. This works especially well for still life and florals and portraiture.
4. Scumbled multi - valued backgrounds can also help you to create 'lost and found' edges in the rear plane of the design.

Solid One-Colour Background
A 'one colour base coated' background is perfectly fine for stroke work, but I think for still life, could be a little boring, and can sometimes appear flat. For beginners, it is easier to teach them to deal with the technical aspects of painting the design first, but as our skills build, we realize that the background of the painting is a vital part of the painting and one that must not be taken for granted.
Without an interesting background, the foreground has no real point of reference. The two go together, and help to draw the viewer 'deeper' into the painting.

Neadeen Masters  CDA©

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Lost and Found Edges

The illusion or magic within a painting is in our ability to create depth and dimension or to turn a two dimensional surface into a three dimensional one...... where we believe that we can reach into the painting and touch an object or pass our fingers between objects.  In other words, the illusion of depth or actual space.  The concept of lost and found edges must be looked at as having the necessary ability to control contrast between objects, this is a valuable tool or might be considered the artist's magical trick.

Lost - this means that we don't notice this area very much, we can still see it, but we do something to it to de-emphasize it so it does not stand out from the area around it.

Found - this means that we can see this area more easily than one that is lost - so in order for it to be found, it must be different from the area next to it or around it (it's always relative to something else)

Edge - this is the outside profile that makes up the contour or shape of an object - on a leaf this would be the outer edge of the leaf.

So how do we treat an edge to make it either lost or found? - When two edges come close to each other, like the edges of leaves in a bouquet of flowers, or the petals of a flower we need to control the contrast (differences or similarities) between the two, to either make one stand out from the other, make them touch, or create distance between the two. Anytime we look at objects within a painting, we need to pay attention to the edges of each element and how close they are to each other or to the area behind them. We need to ask ourselves - what exactly is it that we want to do to those two objects, make them closer or far apart?  In a bouquet of flowers for example, where there are several leaves, if we look at the proximity of one to the other, we should see opportunities to create this sense of space, pushing apart or pulling together portions of each leaf, making some look as if they are close together or farther apart. 

So what does contrast really mean? 'Contrast' according to Webster's is: juxtaposition of dissimilar elements as color, tone, or emotion in a work of art, degree of difference between the lightest and darkest parts of a picture, the difference or degree of difference between things having similar or comparable natures, comparison of similar objects to set off their dissimilar qualities.'

Just like the magician, it is we who have the ability to make the edge of an object or even the entire object fade away or jump out at us.  By controlling this contrast we can either make them similar (lost) or different (found) from each other - good magician – through acquired knowledge or ‘tricks’ we can create illusions and fool the viewer, the skilled artist tricks us to think and believe that there are three dimensions on a two dimensional surface. How does he do it? This is a topic that I enjoy learning and studying, it is one of perspective. This is an immense topic with many facets but all of us artists have to understand and apply it as we develop and study more about painting. You know …….. This is the one where the ellipses on containers are off, or the road in the painting doesn’t quite seem right, all the leaves in a floral all are the same size and face the same direction, or the mountains at the back of the painting seem to be almost in the foreground? This topic is so big and complex that it’s one we will all struggle with as we travel this journey.

With a greater understanding of this comes our ability to create depth and the realistic dimension we strive to get. There are many methods for achieving perspective and creating the illusion of depth within our paintings and these can be done in many ways. One of the ‘tricks’ which helps us establish and reinforce perspective - is the concept of 'lost and found’ edges.

Neadeen Masters CDA©