The Visualising Gap

MARTIN KINNEAR explains how to use digital technology to boost your painting process

If you’ve ever owned one of those books where the spot Monet, Cézanne or Turner stood has been photographed and compared to the artist’s painting, you’ll understand what I’m talking about. Their creative response to a scene is often very different to how it looks in real life, which begs the question ‘How did they get to that?’ The difference is what we might term the visualising gap.

Great art rarely has a visual-input-equal visual-output logic. Style is the starting point for creative vision. By default, choices such as ‘I’ll only use a palette knife’ or ‘I will only paint in three colours’ produce more creative output.

However, developing a style is a long-term goal. Historically, most artists don’t so much develop their own creative parameters as take on and modify those of others – evolution not revolution. But in the last few years this has changed. Smartphones and tablets mean that original, creative visualisation is at everybody’s fi ngertips. It’s a great time to be a painter.

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