When passion is a drawing idea. A person who drives my passion almost always finds gratifying and shocking results. If that person is an artist, that is even more true. Passion for the artist Nathaniel Skousen is a matter of ideas. It’s the ideas that keep you spellbound. An artist is drawn to change and so many fields of art, Skousen favors to say little to the physique in front of one of his works and, intentionally mix the metaphors. Skousen hopes that the viewer will perceive a body of work united by the guiding principles of representative realism and a group of honest and hopeful portraits of the chosen subjects.
The starting line
For Skousen, the beginnings must appreciate. Having welcomed his fifth child into the family, Skousen reflects that his early days have had a significant impact on his current situation. I turned up in a house without a television. To counter our lack of entertainment, we have been provided with an extensive library of books. My parents were strong advocates for the arts. Many of the books they offered were on the subject of art, from impressionism to figurative realism.
So it was at a new age, Skousen was added to the products of Rembrandt and others. Instead of growing in front of the station, Skousen and his siblings used their imagination, read books, painted, and drew. An extra early field of power for Skousen was his mother’s legacy. Skousen’s family lived in Finland from time to time when he was young. He recalls being particularly moved as a child by the stories of the Kalevala, an epic poem from Finnish folklore and mythology.
Choice of subjects
Skousen recently featured her first master class video on Artists Network TV, giving instructive lessons on painting and cool drawing ideas. For an actor who loves the scene and often covers the outdoor while walking towards high mountain lakes (many of which are approximately 11,000 feet tall) in his quests as an avid gold trout fly fisherman, it is interesting to note how influential the human figure is. It is in art. The other day I explored for the most famous paintings. I remember we can imagine most of them, but my original intention was to see the comparison between portraits and landscapes. There were so many portraits that I stopped looking for landscapes. The point is that we, as human beings, respond to faces more than to any other image. The human face exerts an enormous fascination on us. A well-drawn and painted face or figure can inspire and excite people.
The place to draw
As anyone who has inquired about pictures and body knows, drawing can be a critical element in these artistic means. Skousen uses modeling for design plans, small paintings, finished paintings, and self-study. But in his pictorial practice, he does not first draw the portrait and then paints it. Why? I find myself drawing so much in the final painting process that my artistic soul doesn’t want or need a drawing of that image. I separate the two. When I draw, I like to draw to explore the subject. The exploration is much more interesting for me. Skousen can explore his curiosity for the interplay of structures between light and dark by designing the form. He uses this study time to learn interesting things that he may not have previously considered.
Memorable firsts
That mentoring time marks Skousen’s thoughts of the first painting he produced in the summer of 2001. Skousen respected an artist who made a deal with him that if he collected models from the local university, he would allow him to paint with him and watch how he worked. In that setting, Skousen learned to use northern light, blend familiar skin tones, and more. I remember all the little details and instructions from him to date. I have absorbed every possible point. In these studio sessions, I came across a mix of Veridian and Alizarin Crimson while painting the background with the two colors and then applying them directly to the midtones. I was mid-tested about the result, and at the time, I had no idea why. It was my first encounter with the atmosphere of painting in the form, making it sing. I am forever grateful for the time this artist took from his busy schedule to show me some of these tips and ideas in the studio.
Discovering a painting process
Almost two decades after this powerful experience, Skousen has developed his core processes when it comes to portraiture, as illustrated by the approach he took for The Changing Season (above) with the artist’s daughter. Get the idea from it. At first, I had a general idea of a figurative river painting in mind, one of my weaknesses. I took my daughter and son to a stream and let the light of the valley and the beauty of my children in that environment inspire possible paintings.
Capture images and visual inspiration.
I photographed them for probably a little over an hour and let the flow go with unique photos for both a large painting and family keepsakes.
Acknowledge your inspiration.
On the way home, I thought of a particular pose that my daughter fell into as if she was bored to death. Her fingers, hands, and feet played an essential role in the lines and composition of the figure. He had already started haunting me, which is precisely what I want as an artist.
Analyze your source material. I evaluated the images at home and selected the best ones, both in focus and emotional potency.
Make plans and explore the possibilities.
Once I isolated the image I wanted, I worked on composing the size of the background. I mapped the trees, the location of the rocks, and the size of the waterfall. I did this through Photoshop and Gimp. For me, a camera rarely captures a composition that is even remotely captivating. Using these programs to change the size and position of objects, I am much happier with the final product. I make a concerted effort to make the compositions appear different from what you see every day through the lenses of the smartphone cameras that we carry in our pockets.
Decide and get started.
I opted for a square composition and first approached the area I fear the most: the trees and the leaves. Then I work for rocks, water, plants, and a shirt. I saved the skin tones for last. In the first pass, I painted in a simplified way. Then I went and painted all those areas again in the same order and ended up on the face again. In this second step, you dictate the shape with shadow, midtones, and light. In the final step, I got to the highest level of detail.
Complete, wait, and reevaluate.
At this point, the painting is finished. Sometimes I keep an image for a week or a month, and if I am not satisfied, even a year. I will come back with a fresh eye and make a list of everything that needs more attention. Essentially, this is a list of tiny things that will affect the entire painting. I probably spend a few days just on these small details that carry a picture when the viewer observes them closely.
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