David Ladmore responds emotionally to colour and light in his fine-tuned, ethereal portrayal of subjects in the classical tradition.
(article for International Artist Magazine, December/January 2007)
By David Ladmore
My approach seems to work best when I paint with a direct, easy naturalism without trickery or artifice, i.e. as a technician and trusting in the artist and visionary to take care of itself. Success seems to come more often from simply placing the colours and shapes in their proper relationship; taking great care to fine tune these relationships without rushing ahead into the fiddly stuff.
Small studies are great for developing colour and design ideas with penalty-free brainstorming, though not so much as to lose the excitement of the original idea.
Things That Work For Me
• It may take longer to develop the precise colour relationships than to paint the picture. The application of paint needs to be confident and decisive and free from hesitation. Sometimes all the drama happens in the palette.
• Study your source material really carefully whether slides, photos, sketches, studies or the model. There are patterns and shapes that lead to other shapes.
• All that is not indispensable is harmful and useless. “Economy, restraint, emotion” Andrew Wyeth
• Try to understand a few colour and pigment combinations as thoroughly as possible.
• Spend more time developing a more subtle relationship between the large masses.
• The beauty of form and colour originates from the coming together of these masses. Do not rush through this.
• I find that to make a painting powerful I need to spend the time on this subtle fine tuning rather than looking for more dramatic subject matter or effects. Smaller areas of detail then become more significant and effective. If you are working with colour and want to describe form focus on the correct colour and the form will take care of itself.
• Paint in planes, get the colours right especially where the planes come together and the form will take care of itself.
• Edges of passages can be very significant. Treat them accordingly. They won’t be all hard or all soft – vary them. Establish links from one passage to another.
On Painting Flesh
Painting flesh is not the easiest thing but what works for me is to keep an open mind and be prepared to make changes constantly. Oil paint enables you to remove several days work and repeat the process until you get it right. Sargent sometimes painted a face a dozen times before he was happy with it. Trial and error is an integral part of the process of creativity. Paint what you see, not what you think you see.
Critical Appraisal
It is necessary to do an honest critical appraisal every so often, listening to what the painting is trying to tell you. Spend most of the time fine tuning the relationship between the large areas. Reserve fine detail and bright colour accents for significant areas only i.e. on the transitional areas that divide light and shade and the turning of planes.
In my painting I feel it is important to only suggest detail. It is always more intriguing than merely describing it. Suggestion invites viewer participation. Detail is very seductive and sometimes it’s nice to give your brain the day off and render every hair, leaf, feather, brick, etc. However it adds little to the power of the painting.
I find the greatest challenge is to be spontaneous. I want to be able to paint as Monet says, “…as the bird sings.” There is beauty and power in the painting of flesh, however the music, poetry, and sublime stuff can only be painted intuitively. I find it hard to draw the line between being careful and being inhibited.
What I’ve Discovered So Far
• To be spontaneous you need to be free of the limitations of technique or the lack of technique. It is definitely a necessity, not a virtue. It must be mastered before it can be left behind.
• Be clear in your mind what you want to do and then do it.
• You must paint what you see, how you see it. If you want to paint a cubist nude you must see it before you can paint it.
• Paint what moves you emotionally and be true to yourself.
• It’s fine to start in the middle too and paint by the seat of your pants without a care in the world. Both approaches are equally valid.
• Use only expensive professional quality paints – painting is difficult enough without having to deal with student grade materials.
Free and loose (especially in watercolour)
I have met many people who have been discouraged by being told to paint free and loose. This is part of the grand and beautiful illusion of mastery in art, music, etc. Don’t try to mimic this illusion. Begin slowly and carefully. Repetition will make you faster. Artists who paint for a lifetime may produce trifles that may appear free and loose, but you can’t always begin that way.
Painting Outdoors
• Keep plein air and studio paintings as separate adventures.
• Outside you only have time to capture the bare essentials. Get down as much information as rapidly as possible.
• Record information accurately and interpret later in the studio.
• Work on the accurate relationships of colours and values to each other.
