How to Take Charge of Composition and Color in the Urban Landscape Painting

Although the paintings in my Rooftops series are based on the view out my window, I didn’t do them as plein air paintings. The shadow patterns and colors of light I was interested in were fleeting. Since I couldn’t capture these effects in just a few minutes, I had to rely on photographic references.

The photograph can be a wonderful visual aid, but it comes with a host of potential problems: values can be overly dark or light; colors can be inaccurate and don’t necessarily form a coherent strategy; and compositions are often unrefined. As a rule, I never rely on photographic color. I use the photo primarily for inspiration and as a reference for drawing. The color strategy is my own. I also never accept the composition as it comes out of the camera. I take a wide angle shot that includes more information than I would ever need, and then use that to explore more compositional options in the studio.

By the time I am ready to start the painting, the photo will have undergone significant modifications.

Also see:
Using Photos Like an Artist
The Landscape Painter’s Guide to Selecting Reference Photos

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Background

For many years, I didn’t consider the view out my window “paintable.” During daylight hours, the shapes were often disorganized (top). There was no real pattern or structure to the design. Then one winter, a light snowfall revealed the shapes and perspective of the rooftops (bottom). I found that these shapes and patterns were most apparent in the late afternoon or at sunset. These three rooftops served as the foundation for nearly every painting in the series.

Original Source Photo

At first glance, the source photo for Three Rooftops (below) is rather drab, and the composition is unfocused. But the seeds of a good composition are there. The raking light coming in from the right suggests interesting patterns of light and shadow, and the tree on the right provides a nice vertical counterpoint to the horizontal movement of the wide-format composition.

Defining the Composition and Setting a Color Direction

Above, a digital manipulation of the photograph resolved two important issues. First, I applied a limited focus that eliminated most of the sky and the lower portions of the houses. This drew attention to the rooftops and the patterns of light and shadow I was most interested in. Second, I made color adjustments in Photoshop that shifted the color toward something that was more suggestive of the colored light one might see in the late afternoon. In other words, I imposed a color strategy the photograph lacked.

Note:  If you compare this digital study to the original photo, you’ll see that I also added a patch of light to the corner of the closest rooftop. This sets up a three-point rhythm of orange along the rooftops. The eye follows the orange shapes from left to right and goes up the vertical tree on the right. 

Above, a digital 3-value notan study, generated in the Notanizer app, brings out the patterns of light and shadow that were only hinted at in the source photo. These patterns became the foundation of the composition.

Drawing

Ordinarily, I don’t begin with such a tight drawing, but with an urban landscape, where perspective and angles are critical, I take more care. Even at this preliminary stage, I considered color: I toned the surface with a pale violet, which is one of the dominant colors of the color strategy. 

First Pass of Color – Color Blocking

With a clear drawing as my guide, I assigned color blocks to the major shapes. The color strategy here is essentially a red-orange/blue-violet complementary relationship. However, the colors have also been neutralized to some degree, which helps unify the potential clash between them.

Also see The Harmony of Neutrals. 

Final Painting

A considered, well thought out start always leads to a better outcome. If you compare the final painting to the preliminary studies, you can see how closely the patterns of light and shadow established in the notan are preserved. Also note how closely the final colors match those used in the initial block-in. Composition and color strategy are, arguably, the two most significant ways a painter can move beyond the negative influences of the photo reference and make the subject their own.