The great American illustrator, Howard Pyle, taught about two hundred students in his lifetime. Of those, about eighty became well-known artists and illustrators. His assistant for many of those years was Charles DeFeo, whose job it was to clean Pyle's palette, reset it with fresh color, wash the brushes, and take Pyle's French poodle, Bijou, for walks. While DeFeo was in the studio, he recorded some of the advice Howard Pyle gave to his class.
First an artist- then an illustrator.If you are going to be an artist all hell can't stop you. If not, all Heaven can't help you.If you receive only fifty cents for a job, put as much of your heart into it as you would in one you are receiving $500 for.If you are doing a black-and-white, a little color will hide a multitude of sins.If you are painting a sky full of birds, or a garden of flowers, or any objects- show one or a thousand.If an object in the foreground of your picture looks too big, make it bigger. If it looks too small, make it smaller.After the first half-hour of work, your lay-in should kill at a hundred yards.
If you can make a picture with two values only, you have a strong and powerful picture. If you use three values, it is still good, but if you use four or more, throw it away.In using three values he used to say, "Put your white against white, middles tones (groups) against grays, black against black, then black and white where you want your center of interest. This sounds simple, but is difficult to do."If you're doing a fight picture or a stormy scene make the background fight as well as the figures in the picture.A strange color, that is different from the color scheme of your painting, use in one spot only. It will be beautiful, but do not repeat it.They will never shoot you for what you leave out of a picture.Your picture is finished if it is one-third as good as your original idea.
My favorite of DeFeo's reminiscences of Pyle's class, however, is the comment Pyle would make after giving a painting demonstration: "I'm afraid you didn't get much out of it outside of entertainment for you could see me work, but you could not see me think." Whenever I have witnessed a demonstration by a master painter, I am always left with the frustration of seeing what they did, without knowing WHY they chose to do what they did. For better or worse, I know my style will always have a signature element that is me; I am not seeking to be a copy of another artist (no matter how brilliant they are). If I could only "see how they think," though, perhaps I could approach that master's skill.
Delaware Art Museum, Howard Pyle: Diversity in Depth (Delaware Art Museum: Wilmington, DE, 1973).
9 comments:
I just have to agree with everything here! So Simple so True!
Great post!
"Put your white against white, middles tones (groups) against grays, black against black, then black and white where you want your center of interest. This sounds simple, but is difficult to do."
I am going to have that tattooed on my neck.
"Your picture is finished if it is one-third as good as your original idea."
So encouraging and relieves a great deal of worry. Thank you very much for this post! If you have anymore by Pyle, please consider posting!
I'm the same when I watch a great painter. I know deep down that it's their thought process that produces the end result and that will always be uniquely their own. Great post with some good info.
Hi Matthew,
Your favourite quote from Pyle about not being able to see what a painter is thinking in a demonstration is a very telling one I think, and also why most of the demonstrations I see are more (in my opinion) about the artist show-casing their skill than genuinely trying to pass on some useful knowledge. It's why most demo DVDs should be seen for what they are: entertainment for painters more than didactic aids - again, in my opinion. The real work goes on in the head of the painter, not on the canvas or on the palette. It's easy to forget that I think.
There's always so much interest in painters' palettes, techniques and materials. But without access to the thought process behind how they're used, knowing exactly which pigments a painter used won't get you any closer to being able to paint like them.
Thanks for another interesting post. Your blog never disappoints and is one of the best out there IMO.
Cheers,
Paul
It is tempting to want to copy what our current great masters have done; there will only be one Richard Schmid, one Andrew Wyeth, one Howard Pyle, etc...
it is difficult to think independently and still come up with something creatively worthy without looking foolish. We learn from the masters but at a certain point, the quest becomes about how to break away. I think this is what Pyle was getting at.
Thanks for an inspiring post.
“…If I could only "see how they think," though, perhaps I could approach that master's skill.”
I couldn't agree with you more.
Ever since I was a kid, when I would see a painting I liked, rather than ask "HOW did they do that?" I would think "How did they know to do (this)" - in essence, I was asking "WHY did they do that?"
I was always more interested in the thinking behind the painting, the reasoning and thought processes. On some level I instinctively knew that there was where the true power in painting lies.
The instructors that I have had who could articulate their thought processes were the ones I learned the most from.
Very interesting article. I'm new to oil painting and am self taught so this is a real beginner question. I'm trying to get my head around the following and would like to clarify "If you can make a picture with two values only, you have a strong and powerful picture. If you use three values, it is still good, but if you use four or more, throw it away."
So is what he saying...if you use, for example, white value 1 and black value 9 (and blend very slightly between those 2 values where they meet - or not if preferred) you will have a strong picture? Likewise if you mix up maximum 3 values for the face or hair (i.e. value 4, 5 and 9) it will be stronger than mixing up all 9 values and using all of them.
Thanks
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