A few nights ago I had a handful of people over at my studio for a night of art making. My friend and sculptor Joe Brubaker brought a bunch of small wood pieces with him, and everyone had the option of glueing them to their paintings.
Adding this dimensional element to my work was at first very difficult! I found that no matter what I did, the little wood piece dominated the overall composition and threw everything off balance. Then a simple, but effective, solution hit me.
Watch the video, and let me know what you think. Do you add any sculptural quality to your paintings, or vice versa? I would love to hear.
In gratitude, Nick
PS Be certain to check out the amazing work of Joe Brubaker at http://www.joebrubaker.com/
42 Comments
Hi! I’m
Nicholas Wilton
the founder of Art2Life.
With over 20 years experience as a working artist and educator, I’ve developed a systematic approach that brings authenticity, spontaneity and joy back into the creative process.
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Great idea! I’ve been wondering how to add sculptural elements to my painting. This element does make the painting more powerful.
I’ve noticed in your paintings for instance there are some extreme contrasts with shapes, etc.Maybe not everything has to be blended in so they are not so jarring.
I was thinking the same and liked the circular object better when it was pained the slightly different shade so not quite so blended – I would redraw the line that was painted over to bring back the unity.
Wow very cool! It’s so interesting to see how that difference really dominates the piece and you solution is brilliant. A great reminder to balance difference in our work. I’ve never used any 3 dimensional objects in my work but this video yet direction to take our work. Love it!
Hey thanks for sharing. This is my kind of work! I’ve been using 3-D elements for a while now in my paintings and have def run into those challenges you mentioned. I literally had the same idea to tone down the 3-d blocks in my latest painting a week ago and that was exciting. This isn’t done yet bc the white blocks are still screaming out, but it’s really fun to problem solve. I love 3D!
“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.”
Edward de Bono
Tame the distraction! I like that theory. I just created a 3D art quilt combining wool applique’ and batik fabric. The colors and motiff’s I worked with are big and bold. I enjoyed listening to your theory and am looking forward to seeing how it relates to working with fabrics. Thank you for the insightful video this morning!
I love using corrugated cardboard, net, sand and different things to add texture to my paintings. I usually don’t make them stand out by using a bold color on them but by blending them into their surroundings. I have never used wood pieces, might have to give that a try! Their strength alone would be a challenge I’m sure. Thanks once again for sharing!!
Thanks so much for sharing! What a huge difference when you blend the color of the object into the background so it’s not so jarring! I’ve been wondering how I can incorporate objects into my paintings! This helps a lot! Thanks again Nicholas! Really appreciate you doing these videos!
I’ve unsuccessfully tried to add elements to my paintings, this helps a lot. I appreciate all your tips and conversations.
I’m a mixed media artist who recycles and repurposes strange and unusual objects into my art. I find I have trouble NOT adding dimensional pieces into my art! It’s so interesting how flat is uncomfortable to me and dimensional feels so foreign to you. Thanks for sharing this!
Agreed Michelle. One of my mantras is, art doesn’t have to be flat:)🌻Laura
I really enjoy putting texture in my painting and I’ve always had it be the subtext. I think that how you view texture and contrast can greatly change the way you work. Thanks for the video.
This idea reminds me of the work of Louise Nevelson.
Thanks for the reminder!
Oh yes!
This is very helpful for a black and white art quilt I am just finishing. I added a large button in a strong color that totally upset the piece. I was just about to get back to work on solving the problem when I saw your advice. Now I know how to finish it. Thank you, thank you, Nicolas.
Brilliant insight!
Reminds me of Ben Nicholson’s low relief abstracts in Tate Modern.
It seems to me that it totally depends on your goals– what you’re trying to achieve with a painting. I love how the 2nd painting is starting out. The bright colors and shapes–a perfect start for a child’s bedroom. A story of a boat or balloon on the water. I lean more towards Axel’s comment, the 2nd one below, that not everything needs to be so blended. But I totally accept the validity of what you want to do with it Nick. Both are worthy of development.
I think it also depends on how many 3D element there are in the picture. One element dominates completely and I don’t think any amount of toning down will allow integration. 5 or 6 would need the kind on value integration you are talking about. But 20 would need less and could be more different and still achieve integration. Interesting topic Nick and great discussion everyone!
Just bookmarked Brubaker. Amazing work! 🌻Laura
That was so interesting, Nick. I would never have thought of that technique to tone down. Clever, insightful. Though I’ve never glued more tan paper images, now I know. Thanks!
I have been afraid to stray from flat canvas – though I love palette knife texture. I enjoy your videos – short – to the point yet packed with inspiration …..
I have been playing with paper folding, scoring and scraping recently…I was going 3d but now I have tamed it back down to almost flat just with some gentle raised surfaces but the temptation of 3d persists…it is a strange one as there is so much to master with 2d. In reference to your stuck on pieces another way to tone down your surfaces there is soft edges…just like in painting…all your objects are casting hard shadows as they seem to have hard edges…perhaps that is also another factor in making them less dominant.
Joe Brubaker just massively inspired me to start sawing up some wood and carrying on with my 3d experiments…many thanks for the link.
another dimension to think about. Cool!!!
Yes…brilliant insight. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for this incredible generosity
Great video Nicolas thanks! Coincidentally, I was just reading this post that was submitted to All Things Encaustic – https://allthingsencaustic.com/3d-encaustic-sculpture/ . I hear the Universe telling me to try more three-dimensional work!
~ Ruth
Really cool! collage making is one of my favourite way to paint and when it comes to combining papers, natural found objects into a painting I totally agree that these 3D elements can really steal the show! I love your deduction to meld the 3D life’s into the painting by making the value and colour similar and also great idea to carve lines through to connect!!
So great Thank you for sharing!👍
This made me think that he reasoning you use for minimizing the 3d shapes can also be applied to any sort of “double emphasis” such as using both a line and shape to describe an object( abstract or not). Certainly you can do it, but being aware that it is a powerful restating. Thanks for your insights!
Yes
I have tried attaching 3d objects to my paintings and like you have struggled with it a bit and although like the idea, it always felt a bit foreign. This piece is one that I was pleased with. It basically was thin strips of off cuts of another painting that I attached to this one.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bbc3e668d76c6f1671e39c3ce0b9b756efc0d243f4db6139a88290ebfb4170ca.jpg
I like to use thick collage as a method of adding line.
I love this element to your work!
This is very interesting. I’ve experimented a little with 3 dimensional add-ons to paintings. What I noticed in the video was painting the white circle a light gray actually improved the image…because it balanced the cast shadows from the other white sculptural elements… creating a quiet conversation between the three sculptural elements. In theory I agree making the sculpture elements quieter by merging color but it doesn’t take into consideration the impact of shadows on the image. That’s my observation.
I agree. The shadows are a major and strong aspect of the composition.
So interesting. And again, the timing of your topic coincides with my own situation! I have been cleaning out my studio and am trying to decide whether or not to keep all the (potential) assemblage elements I’ve been collecting over the years!
I don’t know…I’m trying to not be so ADD. When I play with 3-D elements, my work ends up being more sculpture than painting. I’m trying to focus on just painting (2 dimension) now, after CVP.
But after this video, you’ve given me a reason to hang on to my detritus! LOL. (Unless you want it.)
Yes. My experience with art ‘detritus’ is that you get rid of it and then you soon have an urge to use it!
I have done quite a bit of experimentation with adding objects to flat surfaces. I think the challenge of ‘blending’ them into a whole and embedding/integrating them into the composition is the whole point of the challenge. That said, I still struggle to use it and find it a bit scary. Seeing this moves me to do it more.
Recently I have been working a bit with fabric remnants. This is similar but with less depth and distraction.
I tend toward sculpture that can hang on a wall. But I remain primarily 2-dimensional in my work. Just intrigued by a third dimension at this time.
I’m feeling that it’s a question of whether the support is perpendicular or horizontal. If the piece is meant to be viewed on a wall, then it becomes necessary for the protusions to be subservient to the upright support/background, and your suggestions are spot on. If, on the other hand, the piece is meant to be viewed from, say, a table top, then the protusions can, and do, dominate. Perhaps it really is about the piece as an image or the piece as a sculpture. Thank you for sharing, Nick.
I love what you are saying and always timely as I’m thinking of adding dimention to my watercolour paintings. One artist that you reminded me of was Keneth Draper. He’s worth a look
Just curious after watching this.. what is your opinion of the archival impact of using hot melt glue? I know the stuff is subject to failure at it’s own melting point – which is easily achieved in a hot car and depending on location,direct sunlight. I personally would be suspect of presenting it as any type of archival material. Most plastics to degrade with time.
Thank you Nicholas. I am just about to undertake something similar and that was a very helpful talk.