Some notes from my visit with a master landscape painter!

You've probably never heard of VaLoy Eaton, but he's probably one of the greatest landscape painters alive in the world today. Of course, this is my own opinion, but to back up my claim, VaLoy won (among others) 3 Silver Medal Awards at the National Academy of Western Art (now Prix de West) annual shows, and is pretty much the go-to-guy for many large corporate landscape art needs, (especially in Utah, which is his home and therefore his chosen subject most of the time).

And why haven't you heard of him?...well, as he puts it, it's really easy to become famous, but it's a lot tougher to stay famous. More to his credit, he also admits that he doesn't "need" to be famous anymore (he's paid off his house, studio, vehicles, etc., and is doing as well as ever with his art sales....so there you go; I would tend to agree with him).

Anyway, why do I bring up his name? Well, because VaLoy Eaton is one of those little-known (except to his many eager collectors) masters of fine art who has a treasure trove of wisdom and experience to impart to those who are lucky enough to be the recipients, and I'd like to ensure here that his wisdom is not forgotten....

But first a little background story. I was lucky enough to meet VaLoy when I was only 12 or so, when I was able to go to his studio for occasional critiques, pointers, and general inspiration and encouragement for the next 8-10 years. I don't know if I realized at the time how lucky I was.

To make a long story short, much of my artistic philosophies and habits are a direct result of the things he told me over the years. To make the story even shorter, I had the wonderful opportunity a few weeks ago to visit with him again at his new studio (it's been about 10 years since our last meeting). Not only was this a happy reunion of old friends, but it was a familiar reminder of tried-and-true methods and wisdom (things I had heard from him years ago, but had either forgotten or misunderstood).

OK, now on to some of the things he taught me (in "note" format, and in no particular order):

1) Regarding composition, don't follow any rules, charts, or graphics (including one book that tends to be seen as a "bible" of composition)...instead, just make sure you create interesting SHAPES, COLORS, LIGHT, AND SPACE.

2) Don't follow any "rule of 3rds" or any other such rule. Just make sure that your painting has one subject, and one "story" to tell. If you tell that story, then it's a success.

3) ...and in case you didn't see the pattern in the first two points: No rules at all...forget them ALL! The "rules" were made up by non-artists to explain what the artists did.

4) Push color when you can, but keep it honest. In other words, see if you can pick out colors that you didn't notice at first. Also push atmospheric perspective as much as you can (which is when things get progressively lighter and (usually) bluer as they recede into the distance)...this one is "hard to overdo" as VaLoy put it.

5) Make sure your value shifts from light to dark aren't too great...create much of the change with temperature shifts instead of value differences.

6) Make sure everything has a color (temperature) to it, instead of being just gray. Likewise, make sure your temperatures are correct and consistent in your lights vs. shadows.

7) If your painting could be cut into two good paintings, maybe it should be. (This goes back to number 2 on this list, regarding only telling one story with one main subject in each painting).

8) Be picky when putting your work online or in galleries. Don't be too eager to get work out there.

9) "Not every painting can be a "10", but you shouldn't let anything below an "8" be seen by anyone". Be sure that you've not let any sub-par paintings out of your studio...they will continue to haunt you for years.

10) Look at masterpieces as often as you can (many great works of art can be found online and can be printed out for easy perusing in the morning or before bed). This is the single most important thing you can do as an artist. This practice will fine-tune your good taste, and your eye for what is good. (If I could interject, I might suggest John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn, Joaquin Sorolla, Alfred Munnings, Isaac Levitan, Ilya Repin, John William Waterhouse and Nicholai Fechin as some good masters with whom to start).

11) Please yourself (and your creator) first. Don't listen too much to what others are saying about your work, unless you happen to already agree.

12) DO YOUR SUBJECT JUSTICE. Don't let any subject wish it hadn't been painted. Spend the time necessary to make it right (regardless of your style, each painting should properly capture your subject's personality)...(I could expound more on this one for a long time, but I'll instead let you just ponder its' meaning for awhile...it's worth writing on your easel just so it sinks in over time).

13) This one may be obvious, but much harder to do than to say: Never knowingly leave anything wrong with your painting. (Kind of goes hand in hand with "doing it justice").

May I wrap up this little list with another quote, by Velasquez: "Imitate nothing or nobody; paint all people and things as you see them."

I believe there's a lifetime of knowledge here (even though this list is in no way exhaustive). But as we know, with great (ahem) knowledge comes great responsibility (where have I heard that before?)...so, use it well to create better art! :)

By the way, VaLoy's website is: www.valoyeaton.com ...be sure to check it out!

Happy painting.
-Trent

You may be interested in seeing a few of my own landscape paintings on my website: www.trentgudmundsen.com ...(they're not as good as VaLoy's, I would venture, but I believe I've done the subjects justice and implemented a few of the things I've mentioned here).

Here is one small example (a plein air piece, finished up in the studio).