From Looking to Seeing

There is something rather special about watching an artist suddenly see something that has been in front of them all along.

These lovely watercolours are by a gentleman I work with near Wadebridge, Cornwall. He was already creating some beautiful artwork, largely through his own exploration and experience, but recently we have been looking more closely at some of the underlying principles that can make an enormous difference to a painting.

Light, shadow, reflection and three dimensions.

They sound like simple things, but understanding how they actually work can completely change the way an artist looks at a subject.

The watercolour of the apple is a wonderful example. Rather than simply painting an apple-shaped object, we looked at what the light was actually doing. Where does the apple become darker? Where does it meet the surface? What happens to the shadow? What happens in the reflection beneath it?

None of this requires covering a painting with extra detail. In fact, often the opposite is true. A few carefully observed changes in tone can give an object weight, form and a sense of occupying real space.

The same understanding can then be carried into an entirely different subject.

In his woodland watercolour, the trees begin to sit at different distances from us. Some come forward while others disappear into the landscape. The spaces between them become important too, helping to create the feeling that there is somewhere beyond the surface of the paper that we could almost walk into.

This is something I return to constantly in my art teaching, whether I am working with someone here in Cornwall, teaching at Mawgan Porth, or working with an artist online.

Learning art isn't simply about learning how to copy what you see. It is about understanding what you are seeing.

Once you understand why a shadow falls where it does, why a reflection changes, how light describes form or why one tree appears further away than another, that knowledge belongs to you. You can take it into your own artwork, your own subjects and, most importantly, your own style.

Perhaps that is why one of my favourite moments as an art teacher is seeing the expression on someone's face when a missing piece suddenly falls into place.

It is a small moment, but it can completely change the way someone approaches their artwork.

From looking to seeing.

And these beautiful watercolours are a lovely example of what can begin to happen when the two become very different things.

Artwork shared with permission.