Since the advent of photography, artists have been intrigued by its possibilities. Some find it an indispensable component in their work, while others curse its intrusion. One thing we can agree on is that it has had a major influence on representational artwork. Even the devoted plein air artist usually has a trusty camera at their side. Its ability to record a variety of information has made it easier for us to work within the comforts of our studios. It often provides security to those who doubt their abilities. We tend to accept a photograph as fact whereas a painting is held up to greater scrutiny. Confronting this prejudice and acquiring a basic understanding of how photography compares to the human eye, can prove invaluable when attempting to produce representational paintings.

The mechanics of a camera are very similar to the human eye. The retina acts as the film or sensor in digital photography, recording information and processing it into recognizable imagery. The cornea acts like the camera lens, bending light rays through the pupil. The pupil and iris act like the aperture, controlling depth of focus. The missing component is the shutter: that curtain that lets a flash of focused light through the lens to the focal plane of the film. We actually see more like a motion picture or video camera, which is capable of recording a series of quick flashes into constant action, versus the one-shot camera. Vision is a continuous process with the blink breaking the sequence. Science has shown us that the average shutter speed for this human movie picture is somewhere around 1/50th of a second. We are also capable of quickly moving our focus, similar to panning with a camera. This helps to keep things that are in motion in focus.

When photographing subject matter that is in motion, anything slower than 1/50th of a second can appear blurred, while faster shutter speeds can stop action, creating too much detail. Since most handheld photography relies on a faster shutter speed than 1/50th of a second, we can ascertain that we are not really recording a human perception. Instead, the reference photo has stopped action and produced a frozen image. In the landscape this issue often arises when photographing running water. If the camera records the water at anything above or below approximately 1/50th of a second, an artificial appearing reference is produced. To test this, mount a camera on to a tripod for stability, expose a swift running creek at a shutter speed of approximately 1/50th of a second, then lower the shutter speed to 2 seconds, and finally raise the shutter speed to 1/1000th or 2/1000th of a second. The aperture will have to be adjusted to create a good exposure, which will alter the depth of focus. The appearance of the running water will be very noticeably different between each exposure.

It is not that these lovely reference photos cannot be utilized for inspiration and detailed information, but a degree of manipulation needs to be applied to make the painting appear real. As a dear painting friend once said, “We must record the scenes in front of us on the emulsion of our minds.” Our job is to harness the photograph as a tool, instead of becoming its slave.

[pictured above] A plein air painting of a swift creek.


Malinda Wiesner recently sent a question concerning a statement I made during a presentation earlier this year: “Last May Richard McKinley presented a demonstration at the IAPS convention in Albuquerque. In that session he commented that there was a prejudice against the color green. There were other comments about how it worked with orange and purple. Could he clarify and elaborate on that?”

Thanks, Malinda, for your question. I'll break it into two blogs. We’ll address the prejudice against green in this posting, and next week, the use of green, orange and violet.

A few years ago while I was on a painting trip with legendary pastel plein air artist Glenna Hartmann, the question of how to handle green was posed. After a perfectly timed pause, she quietly responded, “I avoid it at all cost.” The ensuing discussion was very interesting. It seemed that every painter there had an issue with green.

As the discussion unfolded, it boiled down to a few issues. One of the most mentioned was the pigment used to make green pastels. What we see in nature is light reflected off of a surface. It shares a relationship with its surroundings as well as the bias of the light source. In our paintings, we're creating an illusion of what's real. Since we're incapable of placing real light on a surface, we have to use man-made colors that reflect light back to the observer, representing what we see.

These pigments have limitations, and this is where the issue begins. Most green pigments that are green by nature are artificial to foliage. Even the strongest blue-green in nature is rarely as intense as pure viridian or phthalo green pigment. Dealing with this often entails layering and intertwining other colors over them to produce a more natural appearing green; this is also an excellent method of uniting and harmonizing a painting.

Most manufactures that offer a limited number of color offerings in their pastel lines suffer from an abundance of these harsh tones. Other manufactures with extensive offerings usually mix pigments together to expand their color range. By mixing pigments together, they're duplicating the subtle temperature shifts that wet painters are capable of producing by mixing on their palettes. This produces more natural appearing green tones and has made painting the landscape with pastel much easier. If your pastel palette is small, it will serve you well to add some of these mixed green sticks, thus alleviating one of the issues with green.

In next week's bog I'll address how the other colors within your scene have an effect on your green pastel choices, and why orange and violet work with green.

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