A Glorious Failure?

In college I was privileged to have Frank Newfeld as an instructor in the illustration program I was enrolled in at Sheridan College. Frank was a major force for innovation and creativity in the direction that 20th-century book design and illustration took in Canada. For myself, he was one of those key individuals or mentors in one’s life who stretches and challenges you to grow and learn by making you think critically without simply handing you every answer. He would challenge preconceived ideas and expectations by turning them on their heads, many times through his famous abstracted dialogue which in the end, would help lead you to discover your own answers.

An Unusual Comment
Frank’s regular process with each assignment was to sit down with you in his office to discuss the mark given and his reasons for it. Even here he was unconventional giving out one of two marks: satisfactory or unsatisfactory. His reasoning was that an illustration could either be used by a prospective client (satisfactory) or was unusable (hence unsatisfactory). He did occasionally give a satisfactory plus, meaning that it surpassed his expectations but jokingly added that he would still only pay you the same amount as a client. At one such meeting, Frank started off by describing my assignment as a “Glorious Failure”. Which of course was uncomfortably mysterious at first, but Frank always had intent behind what he said. He went on to explain that even though the illustration was “unsatisfactory” it was because I had ventured into areas of unique technique exploration and colour use, that was completely out of my wheelhouse, that merited it as a “Glorious Failure”! Not simply due to my trying something completely new but because he felt that I should continue to develop and hone this new direction and technique. I took his advice and used this new method of working in many of my first professional illustration works.

Failure Only Happens When You Don't Try

It has been many years since that meeting with Frank and while I define the word “failure” only in terms of someone does not attempt to do anything, it taught me an important lesson. Never see a drawing or painting as a failure but always as something you can learn from. The very fact that you took the initiative to draw or paint something should never be seen as a failure but simply as part of the artist's ongoing process from which you can learn. Drawings or paintings that I see as not working (never a failure) are the ones I glean from the most. Going back and analyzing why they didn’t work can give new insights or direction. Sometimes it takes effort but many times the answer is informative or even "glorious". 

An Important Lesson for Artist's Block

This type of thinking is especially important when you hit that wall called “artist’s block”. Some artists have a tendency to stop working at this juncture, or wait until “the creativity returns”. I always encourage my students to keep going and keep pushing in. Many times artist's block is your unconscious mind helping you to verbalize a struggle that you are unable to understand as of yet. Therefore the importance to keep pushing in. Once you identify the issue you can then take the necessary steps to deal with it. 

Everyone Experiences It

A few years back I was working on a painting for James Gurney's Weeds and Wildflowers Painting Challenge. I had done my preparatory studies and scouted out my chosen subject for the final painting. My easel, gouache paints, brushes and the rest of my materials were loaded into my backpack along with high expectations as I set out to paint a group of wildflowers.

That expectation began to fade somewhat as I was not happy with the initial result, The larger flower didn't seem to fit in, while the area to the left of it was a compositional hole dividing the painting into two. Additionally it was the last day to submit paintings for the challenge, naturally my first response was to forget about entering it. It was my oldest son who encouraged me to listen to my own advice: assess what was not working and fix it. Below was the first version.

After an hour or so of work, the flower and compositional issues were addressed taking it from something that wasn't working to a painting that I was happy with. It was finished in time to be entered and I was quite surprised when it turned out to be the first runner-up in the challenge. You never know. Here was the final version. 

Many times what we perceive to be a failure is actually only a few steps away from being a success. Other times it leads us in new directions. Remember failure happens only when you don't try. Every time you choose to push in, regardless of the outcome. it is a success. 

Working With Grids

Using grids to block out a drawing, when working from life, is a common practice and goes back a few centuries. They can be an effective tool, but can be tricky to use unless you take a few steps to help make the experience more productive. Grids like this can be store-bought or drawn out with permanent markers on plexiglass. Many people handhold their grids, others attach them to their easel or tripod. 

Getting Started

Once a scene or subject is selected, I will set up my tripod, paints and other materials as required. By moving the grid around, I can fine-tune the relationships and other compositional elements to my liking. Below you can see the design divides nicely into thirds horizontally, as indicated by the heavier horizontal lines. When using grids, my paper or canvas will always have the same framework proportionally drawn out, so I can transfer the information accurately from my plastic grid to my working surface. 

Using a Grid
Once a composition is finalized, I will start blocking out the various shapes and forms as required, indicated in green below. However, anyone who has used a grid knows that this is not as easy a process as it appears. 

A Common Problem

Difficulties can arise as soon as you glance away from your grid and then look back. Everything seems out of alignment, as seen below. This can happen for any number of reasons. Stepping back or forward a bit, leaning in or out, holding the grid with an outstretched arm and then bending your elbow, or even moving your head up or down an inch. All of these things can change the alignment and even the perspective of what you were initially viewing. It can get frustrating and time-consuming to try to realign everything. Even with a grid firmly attached to your easel this can happen.

A Solution
One answer to this is when you initially look through the grid, immediately mark off three or four key points in your scene around the grid, indicated in red below. Remember these key points. These will act as common references for you to line up the grid to your subject. Then, whether you move in any way, you will quickly be able to realign the grid to your scene and continue working.

There are many tools available to help us with our drawings and paintings. Not all are for everyone but always be willing to try something new, you may be surprised.

Messing With Manet

A great exercise is to do a copy of a master's painting. The classical example is to spend an extended period of time carefully mapping out and painting a copy as close to the original as you can; line for line, stroke for stroke, and colour for colour. Traditionally this is done in a museum or gallery from the actual painting. Most of us won't have that opportunity so we work with images found in books or on the internet.

However, there are different considerations and levels of finish that can be taken into account. For this series of exercises, done as demos for a student who loves Manet, the basic shapes of the painting were blocked in loosely. The aim was to work on colour and brush strokes, or mark-making. The original images of Manet's work were to serve as a guide and inspiration but NOT to be strictly adhered to in terms of demanding perfection. It was to help the student loosen up, look at large areas of colour and work on using abstract brush marks to create representational objects.

Messing With Manet 
My student loves Manet's paintings and selected a number of pieces to work with. I call it messing with Manet because we were not doing exact copies but using his work more as a starting point, inspiration and a specific focus for each exercise.

Messing With Colour 
We used Edward Manet's "The Monet Family in Their Garden at Argenteuil" painted in 1874 as our first selection. The emphasis here was about laying down large areas of colour while keeping the study as direct and simple as possible.

Messing With Brushes 

Manet's "The House at Rueil" from 1882 was next. Here the use of various paintbrushes was looked at in the process of creating unique marks. We even cut up a few brush tips for special effects. Again, Manet was our starting point, but the exercise took priority. Especially evident in the tree foliage, as it is quite different from the original. Some points of interest. The actual house in Rueil, which still stands, looks very different in reality. Manet added some windows on the main floor and lengthened out the house horizontally. The present house has no shutters, so he may have even added them in!

Messing With Strokes

The final exercise was all about making stokes. My student had the natural tendency to fill in areas of colour with a flat application of paint. Not a negative thing, but they wanted to explore more impressionistic stokes as well as utilize a few "abstract" strokes to convey something that would read more representationally in the end. Manet's 1864 "Peonies in a Vase" became our next selection. 

Having Fun While Messing

Again, the exact placement of leaves and flowers was not the purpose. It was to create a look of leaves and flowers, using strong, direct brush strokes. Being more focused on spontaneity and not overworking the paint. Put the stoke down and leave it alone. Taking the "perfection" element from these exercises makes for an important aspect of painting, enjoying yourself and having fun!

Not All Images Are Created Equal
One thing that we discovered throughout this process, is the wide variety of colours available for the image you select. Some images are brighter, some are duller, and some have very extreme colours. Simply go online, Google a specific painting, and you will see exactly what I am referred to here. We selected images that appealed to us, that had some vibrancy and life to them.

Select a famous painting that you like and try one or more of the exercises listed above, and remember to have fun.