Hello 

This week I am heading to Rhode Island where my son will graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design. RISD is an amazing art school and if I had to do it all over again, I would have tried to get into this school. I remember back when he first started at RISD and I checked out their classes that they offered, there were so many that I would to this day, like to enroll in. You can check out their continued education classes on their website HERE.

Talking about art school reminds me of how starting things the right way is so important in so many things we do. A thumbnail sketch is the right way to start a beautiful and well-composed painting and is what this newsletter will cover this week.​​​​​​​

NO CLASS this Thursday at the Civic Center in Libertyville.
NO CLASS this Saturday at The Studio in McHenry.

Listed below are days we will NOT be having classes this summer.

I will not be teaching at the Civic Center in Libertyville June 2nd, 9th, 16th and 30th July 21st, and 28th

Susan Macfarlan will be substituting for my classes on June 9th,  July 21st and 28th

No classes in McHenry at The Studio June 4th July 23rd and 30th
Please mark your calendars

Have you ever come up with an idea somewhere and you used some small piece of scrap paper or napkin to scribble your idea on, that is sort of what a thumbnail sketch is.

A thumbnail sketch is a quick sketch of the large light and dark values that make up the composition of your painting. It is a little different from a value sketch in that it is a smaller and faster depiction of the composition.

A value study is usually done larger than a thumbnail sketch and has a bit more detail. I usually only do a value sketch when there are things that need changing in the composition of the image that I am sketching from, meaning if the photograph that I am using has elements that need changing in the composition I do it in a value sketch. A thumbnail sketch usually is too small to make those bigger changes but a thumbnail sketch is where you could quickly sketch the new ideas of the value sketch.

The thumbnail sketch is like putting down a rough drawn out idea of the paintings composition and light and dark values.

Keep the thumbnail sketch values to 3 values, Light, Medium, and Dark. 

Thumbnail sketches are used more when Plein-air painting, while value sketches are usually done more in the studio where there is more time to do the sketch. 

When doing a thumbnail sketch, squint at the image to see only the large value pattern, squinting illuminates the color and the small details and shows you the large value pattern, as illustrated below.

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