Discovering Art: The Making of an Artist Part 79

Suggestion & China, Xinjiang Yili By Barry John Raybould

Suggestion is much more powerful than detailed rendering. More sophisticated paintings suggest detail without actually rendering it. This increases the viewer’s involvement and interest in the painting by making viewers exercise their own imagination, which is almost limitless. No longer are you just showing the viewer what you, the artist, are thinking about, but you are stimulating them to contribute their own thoughts and images to the work. In this way, the viewer becomes a participant in the experience. If you depict everything as does a camera, you leave nothing up to the imagination of the viewer, who becomes just a spectator of the work, rather than a participant in it. To do suggestion well requires a thorough understanding of nature. For example, if you want to give your painting the feeling of sunlight, it is very important you understand the concepts underlying hue changes on a form. It is getting those color pairs accurate that creates the feeling of sunlight. It also requires a thorough understanding of the concept of “itness,” so the brushstrokes you choose to use, although suggestive, still communicate the essential characteristics of your subject.