In Event boundaries, beginnings, and creativity, I wrote the following:

Instead of approaching a painting as drawing contours, filling in, modifying, unifying, and then finding or losing edges, why not pay attention to the important stuff at the beginning?

Prioritize your focus and start by trying to find the visual information that defines and describes what you are seeing. Look for the 'right' information and disregard the irrelevant.

Starting a painting means you need to get some marks on the canvas and begin the process of creating a 'map of information'. (I think of this map of information as a You Are Here map in an airport. I use it to figure out where I am and where I need to go!) Pay attention to the entire space of the canvas and try to maintain balance and unity.

Avoid using unnecessary contours and closed shapes. The beginning of your painting should be a suggestion of possibility, not a coloring book page of predictability.

One of the first tasks when starting a painting is to look for a value pattern and to identify the light source as either warmer or cooler. In this photograph of a workshop model, the light is warmer and the shadows are cooler.

Try and identify any potential problems. When working from the model, make adjustments. When using a photo, pay attention to what may not work and think about what you can do to make changes. The goal is to interpret the information, not to copy the information.

The shadows in this photograph are too dark, especially on the dress. I also think the curved fold in the sleeve on the right side of the image is distracting and needs to be revised. The chair arm on the lower right is intrusive and the image would be improved by eliminating that value shift and shape. (Cover the photo's right corner to see if you agree.)

Here, I have marked up some of the information I would look for to begin making marks on the canvas. The center lines on the head and body are very important. Using angles for marks delineating the figure, instead of carefully drawn contours, integrates the figure into the space and allows for general placement. I would not necessarily draw all these marks. But this is what I am seeing as important, and I would place marks on the canvas that would reference this information. This is also information I would continually use as I refined the image.

Instead of isolating pieces of the model, such as face, hair, sleeves, arms, etc., I want to find the integrity of the whole. Angles are relatively easy to see, and when in doubt, one can just hold a brush handle up to the image to double-check the angle. Pay attention to the space around the model. Look at the whole of the image and the entire space of your canvas.

As you add information, simplify by thinking in three values - light, middle, and dark. Finding the pattern is more important in the beginning than in trying to draw 'things'. Look for obvious shapes and obvious contrasts. The arrows in this image are suggestions for where to look to make comparisons in edges and values. Remember, light and shadow defines the form.

Squint or close one eye! This simplifies the information and allows you to see values more easily. But don't just copy a photograph verbatim. Value patterns in photos are often enhanced and easier to see, but we can lose the areas of transition that add nuance and dimension to our paintings. A strong light next to a strong dark will often result in a harder edge, but information turning into shadow will usually not be as noticeable and have a softer edge or perhaps no edge at all.

And as you start adding more color, pay attention to the color shifts from warmer to cooler. A light is not just a light and a dark is not just a dark. They are colors and will most likely have a variety of color temperature. Look for similarities and differences. Compare, compare, compare.

This is a partial selection of the painting Lady Agnew by John Singer Sargent. Sargent, Joquin Sorolla and Anders Zorn paintings are useful to study for understanding edges, shapes and color. They were all masters of simplifying information and extremely adept at using painterly brushwork to suggest dimension while still delineating solid form.

I have marked some obvious places to compare. Pay attention to the edges opposite one another and notice the differences. They have variety and suggest dimension. Using the same type of information (edges, value, and color temperature) on both sides of an object or figure, especially on the horizontal plane, will flatten the shape and negate any attempts at modeling.

Feel free to use the model photograph for your own personal study.

Next up: more on angles, Antonio Mancini and maybe Nicolai Fechin.