Tip: Abstract Block-Ins

I have come to appreciate the work of Marc Hanson who is a landscape painter who often works in plein aire. In a recent post he described how he uses the block-in stage to create an abstract plan for the rest of his painting.

In his own words he states:

"I use the block-in as the abstract break up of the blank space, the visual reminder of my conceptual idea about where I intend this painting to go. It can be very complicated, or very simple, very specific or very loosely defined. Either way, it sets the stage for the next steps in paint application to come. This is the way that I am able to see the 'big picture' of my idea for the painting. If these big idea shapes aren't working, not proportioned in a pleasing way, not balancing each other, not providing a color scheme (loosely stated) that I am happy with, I will never improve the painting past this point."

Mark also provides some examples of his own abstract block-ins. He works with only large abstract shapes until he is happy with the overall composition. Similar to a thumbnail sketch, abstract shapes can be easily changed, added to or removed to improve the layout and capture the overall desired effect.