Backgrounds

[Alexandra Tyng]

Dianne, those deep, rich colors have fascinated me, also! Every artist has a different way of mixing colors and achieving certain effects. One very important point to remember is that dead color, i.e. straight black out of the tube, straight brown, etc., will not produce rich, shadowy color as well as warm color with some cool in it, or cool color with some warm in it.

To get an idea how I do it, here are two links to posts on greys and blacks:

http://forum.portraitartist.com/showthread.php?t=5572

http://forum.portraitartist.com/showthread.php?t=5156

[Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco]

I never liked painting backgrounds as an abstract colour, because it places the subject in nowhere land. I seldom do it, instead I prefer to place even just a piece of cloth behind the model, so that there is a cast shadow that actually makes the painted person feel more real.

In choosing how to paint a background, not only the light should be taken in account, but also the colours and tone of the face and body.
If there is a strong lateral lighting, for example, a light against dark/ dark against light can be very pleasant to the eye. (background lighter then the shadowed part of the face, darker then the lit one).
Also the use of complementary can enhance the colour of the subject: shadows can feel warmer if propped against a cool background and viceversa.
A tonal or chromatic jump can make the subject pop forward without loosing connection with the background. The chromatic vibration between two colours pitched at the same chroma and tone is very beautiful!

I think solid colour backgrounds have great risk of cutout effect. Plain black for me doesn't do as much as a grey would for your painting.

A background needs to be alive to the edge of the canvas, even with subtle differences, and each bit of it must be important and thought about. Dismissing the background, thinking that whatever colour will do, is a typical beginner's mistake.

Dianne, the answer to your question : you apply it in the same way you apply paint in the figure. There is often, in paintings, a unity of measure, like for example the size of your brushes, or the size of a particular area of flat colour.
This unity of measure should come up again and again around the painting (see Cezanne's brushwork). So if you work- as you should- with brushes as big as possible, you can use the same big brushes to lay the background like a patchwork, comparing each area to the next one.
Easier said then done
Ilaria

[Dianne Gardner]

Ilaria, thanks for your input. I never thought about the size of brushstroke of the background as relating to the size of brushstroke used for the subject. I will take that into deeper consideration as I work.

Alexandra, those links were very informative. There was a comment that someone made about oiling in the background and it sparked another question that I had. For a while I was using burnt umber as a mix to make my darks until it was brought to my attention that the umber pigments do not retain the gloss as others do. Therefore I was noticing dull spots in my paintings. I have since stopped using umbers in my backgrounds, and actually don't use them at all anymore.

Even though many of the portrait painting backgrounds that I see read black especially on the computer I know they are darks mixed with other colors. I have mixed prussian blue with alizarian crimson, Ultramarine blue with black, ultramarine with alizarin crimson and viridian, and other such combinations and I am still unhappy with what I have.

Ilaria, I think I am leaning more towards how you feel about backgrounds, that something needs to be back there to keep the figure from looking like it is coming out of a void. I have been much more observant about what others do and of course find that there are no rules really as each painting is a unique expression of art. I just hope to acquire the skills to know what will work with what I am doing. I am definately learning that the background is just as important as the foreground.

I have an open studio at my place once a month. I am beginning to realize that I need to invest in some furniture and backdrops for these sessions so that I can incorporate a decent background into my paintings with the proper fall of light and form in relation to the model. What do you think?

Dianne

[Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco]

Dianne, you got the point.
Maybe the best approach is to carefully consider each portrait. At the moment I am painting two young girls, for example. They were brightly coloured clothes and are both very pale with dark eyes. I could really go for a plain neutral background (my linen tablecloth...)
From this you can also understand how important the setting is and how it will affect your work, so, no working from casual photos!

Well done for the open studio initiative, at my school we usually set up with screens, cloths and have interesting chair for the model to sit.
Ilaria

[Richard Budig]

A couple of things I know and generally try to use in painting backgrounds is something I heard from Daniel Greene, and read from Robert Henri . . .

Greene taught that it isn't likely that the model will affect the background, but it is highly likely that the bckground will affect the model. In other words, you'll very likely find background colors on, and mixed into your model's flesh and clothing, where applicable.

Robert Henri (I'm paraphrasing) said that you must keep your eyes on the model while painting the background, otherwise your background becomes a separate painting.

I think both comments are valid and useful.

[Alexandra Tyng]

Originally Posted by Richard Budig

Greene taught that it isn't likely that the model will affect the background, but it is highly likely that the bckground will affect the model.

Actually I have to say I believe the figure does have an effect on the background. It has a definite mass and, if you succeed in capturing the sense of movement, the effect of this mass is emphasized. The mass of the figure agitates the air around it. It might seem purely scientific but I think there are ways that the artist reacts emotionally to this and captures it in paint.

One way is to paint the edges of the light side as broken and, in some cases, extending into the background. I think the painting of light auras, which we covered in another thread ("optical red") is part of this. The light from the figure--and energy, too-- radiates into the air.

Another way has to do with our perception of color. The direct light falling on the figure is usually the most dominant light in the composition. The color and temperature of this light determines the color of the ambient light and therefore the color of the shadow. Ambient light and shadow can be found in backgrounds. It's all a matter of perception, and the scientific factor and subjective factor are interconnected.
\
These things, plus the fact that background color can and should be found in shadow areas of the figure, add up to a very lively interplay between figure and background. I believe that this interplay creates the feeling of "air" or "space." This should hold true whether the background is abstract or specific (as in Ilaria's description).

Here are two examples. The first is a portrait head (detail) by Sargent. There's a really nice example of a red aura on the lit side of her head, and the shadow color in her face is similar to the color of the ground. The second painting is a still life (detail) by David Leffel. That leaf on the right-hand side just shoots off into space, and the light on the left side of the jug radiates into the air. On the shadow side, the jug and leaves pick up the color of the background. To me, these are two examples of how the artist paints air, and how the figure and ground are mutually influential.

[Mike McCarty]

This quote by John de la Vega seems to fit in well here:

The first job of a background is to stay back. The second is to be exciting (not too exciting), to indicate or suggest a space, a place as evocative and