The spotting technique. Edwin Dickenson, Francis Cunningham, Michael Britton, ....... and my art education.

''Learning to draw or paint is not achieved by Googling 'How to draw a Nose', or 'how to paint a dragon' to find some tripe tutorial that teaches you nothing. Unfortunately the web is overwhelmed with these so called lessons in art.''

I recently bought a book about Charles Hawthorn's spotting technique (which incidentally is a very affordable Kindle download and well worth a read) and I will do what I can to describe what 'spotting' is and why you should be thinking about it and trying it.

There is a demo of the technique  by Francis Cunningham at the bottom of this post.

Francis Cunningham.
Dickinson's class 1958 - 59

Firstly though, the reason for the title is that I have studied (albeit in a very remote way) under the Canadian artist Michael Britton and I can attribute a large proportion of what I have learned and my progression as an artist to him. 

Michael studied under F.Cunnningham who studied under Dickinson who in turn studied under Hawthorn and W.M.Chase.

Edwin Dickinson teaching at the Art Students League 1954
photo by Denver Lindley

My method of learning however, has been thanks to the wonders of technology via DVD, PDF, and email, without these things I would still be floundering in uncertainty about how to go about drawing something let alone anything else related to the correct use of colour, composition and all the technical problems that come with putting paint to canvas or pencil to paper etc..

Michael generously and tirelessly furnishes his students with an invaluable and superior education in the entire craft of painting and drawing, lessons that get to the route of things and can easily apply to all of the visual arts.

In fact, our desire to create comes from the same basic routes of creation itself and of all mans endeavors to simulate this through music, dance, painting, designing, even maths, anything you can name that mankind does has its route in the same basic place that art does. Man being made in the image of a creative God.   But I digress..

Michael's teaching methods are very thorough and include lengthy footage of him executing drawings and paintings. The combined theory and practice lessons I have received here has been my art education.





I genuinely believe that I have gained a far superior Art education by simply studying - repeatedly - the DVDs found on Artacadamy.com. and reading the texts. (Click the link to the right if you want to see the resources)

I've had some experience at colleges and schools in England and it's been disappointing to say the least. I've also heard many other artist accounts from the UK and the U.S (where a good education comes at a high price) about how they feel short changed by the Art education system.  

My progress has been slower and quite solitary but it's been worth it and Michael has given me a lot of guidance over the years. I know I have a long way to go but I would never have got where I am with the education that is currently provided at university, despite the social benefits that come with going to Uni or college.

Needless to say, the process of learning this way is not easy and requires a persistent and patient application.



Learning to draw or paint is not achieved by Googling 'How to draw a Nose', or 'how to paint a dragon' to find some tripe tutorial that teaches you nothing. Unfortunately the web is overwhelmed with these so called lessons in art.

So let me get back to Hawthorn and the very useful technique of  Spotting. 

 Grey Jug and Half Lemon, 1915.
Oil on canvas, 25 x 25 in

Spotting basically means the placing of colour notes, one against the other, forgetting all the important lessons of art and resorting simply to looking. (it doesn't mean dabbing spots with a brush) 

The method requires us to be childlike, or savages as Hawthorn puts it, and to simply take the time to copy what we see.

You must not copy what you know or think you know, but what you see.

There is of course a place for learning the theory of things, the science behind structure, the anatomy behind the figure and all the things that can be learnt about colour and composition and drawing. At some point those things should be done but Spotting is a training tool, a way of learning how to see and judge colour correctly, to really study the way things look and a lesson in how to simplify.

Simplification is key here and obviously the study from life too. Anything can be used:  from the view out a window to a bottle on the table or your face in a mirror. The subject must be reduced to its key notes of colour. Forget detail and let the drawing take care of itself in this practice, just be concerned with colour.

Dickinson Self Portrait in Fur Cap 1914
an example of the literal effects of a portrait
with strong back lighting.

Spotting is not drawing or placing any landmarks or outlines, there is to be no guide. The focus is on the note of colour - of one colour against another. If you get it right then the value, the saturation, the hue will all be correct.

There is no need for clever blending or to apply thin veneer or glazing to achieve an effect of distance or atmosphere. If you get the right colour you can place it on opaquely and confidently and if it is correct then everything else will be right also and it will take its proper place in the scene. 

You are treating your subject (landscape, figure, still life) as if it is a painting on a flat surface and you are simply copying one colour and then another.

Don't look too intently at the colour, just the first impression and don't worry about the edges just get a general feel for it and then take the time to mix it on your palette first. Blur your eyes if you want as this can be very helpful in generalizing the scene.

Place one colour next to the other. Look at how a seemingly dull grey can become a sparkling jewel as you place the correct colour next to it. Keep going until the canvas is covered and make adjustments as each colour contrasts and shifts the other on the canvas.

This is the basis of Spotting. It is a training tool and should not be done as a technique or way of painting but simply as a training tool that will teach you a lot about how to see and about the dynamism of colour and how one reacts to the other.

Don't paint a picture, do it for your own enjoyment and do plenty of them straight on to a white canvas.

When I say don't paint a picture I mean don't be concerned with having a finished product or something you can sell or hang on the wall. Just do it like a musician practices scales.

When you have grasped it you can move on or come back to it when you lke and it will always inform your way of seeing that will prove extremely valuable.

Also get the book mentioned above. 

NOTAN & elements of good design.

Notan is a Japanese term that best describes the balancing of light and dark structure or patterning as a way of expressing beauty and harmony.

This and subsequent posts will hopefully help you to understand the nature of visual representation beginning with one of the most vital elements that every artist should understand and use.

A strong Notan arrangement in our work will grab and hold a viewers attention. If our painting works in black and white, it will work in colour and if the Notan is strong enough you can get away with a lot of drawing and painting errors.

Conversely if a painting lacks a pleasing arrangement of light and dark it will be weak and uninteresting to the viewer and no amount of detail or colour will save it. It is this Notan structure that we should look for in our subject and should be the target right from the earliest stages of our work.

Incidentally, a powerful structure of light and dark is as valid in representational art as it is in abstract work.

All the images in this post have been reduced to black and white to help illustrate this idea.

Manet the bar at the folies-bergeres 1882 in black and white

A pleasing Notan arrangement is something that should be sought out in a scene if you are taking your painting outdoors and it can be spotted more easily if you squint down and reduce what you see to the major light and dark grouping.

Camille Corot ville-d'avrey 1870 in black and white

As artists it is important to train ourselves to firstly simplify and even omit or move some of what we see in front of us.

Without divulging too much here, I believe that it is essential to go beyond blithely copying what we see and to understand more fully the basic elements that make up natures' beauty. To attempt to copy Gods handy work and limit it to 4 sides of a canvas is of course to grossly underestimate and compromise it.

So we must learn to understand enough of nature and combine this knowledge into a simplified whole that will work together to trigger the viewers mind into recalling a beautiful place. It is not arrogant for us as artists to take what we need from our viewpoint and eliminate anything that detracts from that goal.

Notan is not to be confused with the gradation of tone or the pushing of form (the stretch of light to dark) which is of course important but it is rather the structure or initial placement of your overall light and dark pattern. 

Without a strong Notan, no matter how well rendered a subject is, the artwork will lack the all important punch of a powerful design and will fall into the realm of mediocrity.

If your intended subject lacks an interesting Notan it is best to move on, or in the case of a still life or portrait to adjust the lighting, type of objects or clothing.


You can of course invent or exaggerate but this is likely to give you unnecessary difficulties.

Berthe Morisot Manet 1872 in black and white

I would strongly recommend this book  Composition by Arthur Wesley Dow   where the application of the qualities of good design i.e Opposition/Transition/Subordination/Repetition/Symmetry are demonstrated in achieving a solid and unified design.

I would also recommend Michael Britton Resources at Art Academy.com. Michael has been an invaluable mentor in my art education and his thorough understanding and concise teaching has proved to be of a much higher standard than any official education I have received or resource I have found.

I will be writing more about Michael in another post. 

Another way to develop a good taste for strong Notan design is to look at past artists who understood this quality. This is an exercise that should not be neglected.


I understand that many teachers suggest this to their students but rarely explain why it is so important.

If you have Photoshop or similar software try picking a work you think has a strong sense of design and reduce it to black and white (or view through deeply squinted eyes), print it out and pin it somewhere you can view it easily.

Try copying the work using just black and white using any medium of choice and a larger than usual brush - DO NOT BOTHER WITH DETAIL as this will defeat the object!!

Copying from past masterworks is a sure fire way of solidifying your understanding and ensuring it manifests itself in your own work.

Enjoy.

Welcome to my first post. I hope to update regularly with artwork I have completed and at some point articles about what I have learned as an Artist.

I am currently painting on location or en plein air as it is commonly known (although one could argue the English version is the original since it was Constable and Turner that were perhaps the true pioneers. Maybe I'll write about that some other time.)

Here are a couple of small pieces about 7 x 9 on paper. 

Oyster Cove Left
7x9 Oil on Paper Dec 2013

Oyster Cove from above
7x9 Oil on Paper Dec 2013

I find I am going out about the same time everyday around 2pm which gives me very little time  to paint, especially on overcast days, as the sun drops about 4:15 and last light is about 5pm.

This time of day is not ideal, sunrise is best for the quality of light, but I'm crap in the mornings and I usually have other business to attend to. I've learnt that it's more important to get out and just do it instead of using the lack of ideals as excuses not to. I always learn something useful when I'm out painting.

Rain wind and the cold are minor issues compared to the decisions that need to be made such as composition, notan, colour and drawing but these are things that need to be learned in a structured way. Painting plein air is quite spontaneous so there is little time to drag up things you have learned, you just have to go for it and somehow what you have truly understood and practiced finds it way into your work.

Hopefully I'll have time to write more about how to make these decisions and learn these skills or at least point you toward some resources that have been invaluable to me.

If you want to see more of my work I have a website with 4ormat (perfect for artists who haven't got time to learn programming etc..)

Please click here for my website.

Your comments will be well received.