DiVine
SETUP
Mastering Aesthetic
Categories
Mike Mahon
Introduction
Why Aesthetic Categories?
The word “aesthetic” refers to universal principles of beauty, especially in relationship to
visual art. However, these principles cannot be fully understood unless they are placed into
correct contexts, or categories. Music, Literature, Dance, Drama, and Visual Art all use these
aesthetic principles in one form or another.
But you may ask, “Why do I need to think in categories at all? Isn’t painting just letting go and
responding to my creative urge? Applying pigments on paper as my heart guides me to
express my artistic soul is all I need?” This trial and error approach to painting is a recipe for
frustration and failure because each painting would be like starting over from scratch.
Without training and increasing your knowledge you will hit a brick wall in you skill level. To
develop control and spontaneity in your work you need a foundation so that each painting
builds on an engrained mastery of fundamental principles.
I have distilled seven essential art principles that must be understood for successful painting.
These principles are not unique. They are the basic truths of good art that have been known
and used by great artists for centuries, and yet often neglected by the art world during the
20th-21st centuries. My system for using them in a unique way to consistently guide you in
choosing what to paint, how to maintain control of the painting process, and how to critique
your work or the work of others will be presented in this book as your guide to more effective
paintings. You will never grow as an artist until you can critique your own work.
These Aesthetic Categories are clearly definable. They not only serve as objective tools to
analyze the overall quality of an image but most importantly they serve to evaluate each
category for its own merits. At any stage of a painting you can stop and analyze your work by
considering each Aesthetic Category discretely to determine strengths and weaknesses. You
will no longer be left with only subjective feelings to analyze a problematic image.
You will be able to actually rate each scene or photo with my seven-point incremental scale to
determine the best scenes to paint and which images are really a waste of your precious
time.
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Introduction
What is the DiVine SETUP?
I know that you want to master the painting process so that you can paint with confidence
and spontaneity. You also want to know that your painting is going to be a success from
the beginning. You want to spend less time being frustrated and more time really enjoying
the actual painting process. If you can achieve these goals, you will definitely produce more
marketable paintings and have fun doing it.
The Aesthetic Categories I will introduce you to will be useless if you can’t remember them
without referring to my book. You need to have them engrained so well that you can apply
them on the fly and, most importantly, apply them in the correct order. It is for this reason
that I developed the D-i-V-i-n-e S-E-T-U-P pneumonic memory aid. The primary consonants
of this simple pneumonic will keep you mindful of these basic principles and what you
must do at every stage of the painting process. It will also train you to love the painting
process for itself and end your obsession with the finished product.
I find that one of the greatest roadblocks to progress in painting is frustration caused by
feeling out of control and constantly reaching places in a painting where you are lost. When
you become discouraged you may give up completely because the painting process
becomes such a frustrating process. You are set up to fail when you focus on the end
product rather than the process. One must love and enjoy the process.
You will learn a step-by-step analytical process that will give you the tools to craft your
work with confidence. If you think you have gotten lost in the process, you will know how to
back-track to correct any problems. The key to really enjoying the painting process is
knowing that you are the master or the painting and not its servant.
You will eliminate frustration in the painting process that blocks the creative flow and
develop skills to increase the volume and quality of their work resulting in greater
satisfaction and sales.
Every art or craft has rules/principles that must be mastered in order to achieve excellence.
Only frustration comes from ignoring this truth.
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Introduction
So, What are the 7 Aesthetic Categories of the DiVine SETUP?
You will be presented with a lot of valuable information in this book, but I'm going to give
you the two most important lessons right up front on this and the following page. Before
you leave these pages you will know the 7 basic principles of good art, the order they may
be best considered, and how to use them to rate your references and paintings.
DiVine SETUP Take a minute or two, using the
pneumonic, to memorize the following 7
1. Design/Drawing principles:
2. Values Just knowing the DiVine SETUP
3. Shapes pneumonic will put you light years ahead
4. Edges of where you were before you picked up
5. Temperature this book. You will be conversant in the
6. Unity basic principles of art and able to rattle
7. Perspective them off to that curious lay person who
asks you, "How do you know what good
art is, anyway?" Good art, whether
representational or abstract, is the
successful management of these 7
principles.
Most importantly you will be taking the first step in seeing the world as an artist - in
Aesthetic Categories.
Have you ever learned a new word and then you begin to hear it all the time? Obviously you
had been exposed to the word before but had been deaf to it. The same thing may be true of
these principles, just learning the DiVine SETUP phrase will make you more aware and
knowledgeable.
Knowing them is just the beginning. How to apply them is what separates the
apprentice from the master artist. I will go into more depth when we begin
studying the DiVine SETUP in Chapter 5.
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Introduction
How to rate a photograph or scene using the DiVine SETUP.
You rate a photograph or scene by analyzing each aesthetic category alone without
considering any other category. Determine if the image has qualities that match or closely
match the ideal characteristics of each category. If four or five of the categories match or
with a little adjustment have good attributes for these categories, the image is a good
candidate for a successful painting. Fewer than four good categories might be problematic,
depending on your skills and experience. With experience you will be able to instinctively
judge a good image. If you have difficulty appraising images as to whether you should
painting them, using this approach will quickly develop your artistic judgement.
For example, rate this photo as follows: "Taos Roof Tops" by Mike Mahon
1. Competing centers of interest. Trees on left
compete with trees/house on right.
2. Has a strong value structure
3. There are distracting, repetitive shapes. Fence
posts across front of scene.
4. Has good definable edges
5. Has a good balance of warm and cool colors
6. Foreground, middle ground, and background
that interlock for sense of unity.
7. Has strong perspective clues
This photo would be rated as a positive five,
categories 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7. It has only two
negative categories, 1 and 3. It would be a
definite contender to consider working with.
You would only have to improve the position
and variation in shapes and subordinate or
eliminate one of the centers of interest, as
demonstrated in "Taos Roof Tops".
The remainder of this book will
teach you how to rightly judge the
qualities of the Aesthetic Categories
of the DiVine SETUP.
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TABLE OF C O N T E N T S
Add a subheading 10
20
1 About the Author 30
The first consideration to produce a successful painting
2 The OPS Formula
Control of values determines the power and impact of painting.
3 Learning the Ropes.
Editing of shapes organizes and simplifies your image.
4 Prepare to Excel 40
How we reproduce the sense of touch with our vision
50
5 DiVine SETUP
Control color and create balance by mastering temperature 51
55
Design/Drawing 60
Values 65
Shapes 70
Edges 75
Temperature 80
Unity
Perspective
6 Appendix - My Dirty Little Secret 85
Creative cheating to get 3 dimensions on 2 dimensional surface
8 Step-by-Step Painting procedure
Have a plan and work the plan
1
CHAPTER
About the Author
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About the Author
I've been a professional artist for over 50 years and
have been teaching art workshops for over 20 years.
I've won many awards for my art including many Best
of Shows and First Place awards. I was a cartoon
animator, commercial artist and photographer, blah,
blah, and blah.
Some of my credentials are I've listed at the end of this
book.
You either like my work or not. If you like what I
do, if you would like to know how I do what I do,
and most importantly, if you want to know if I
can help you master the art of painting, you
should study this book.
I spent many years of insecurity and frustration with no expectation that I would ever be a
credible fine artist. Give me a little time and effort with this book and I may be able to save
you a lot of wasted years. I wish I had been exposed to this information earlier in my life.
Trying to learn how to paint by trial and error will only engrain bad habits and severely limit
the height to which you can rise. Most of this book is about essential principles of art that
must be mastered to some extent. A portion is about the things I struggled with along the
way to which you may relate. I'm writing this book to encourage you to reach beyond your
failures.
I built an art career and developed my painting and teaching procedures through
overcoming (to a degree) my fear of failure, and being found by Christ. How this came
about is describe in the appendix to this book.
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About the Author
Apart from my paintings, the first thing you need to
know about me is that I'm lazy! Am now and always
have been. That's one reason it's taken me over 50
years to write this book.
One might think that my admission of being lazy, indolent, lethargic, languid, sluggish,
slothful, idle, or whatever, would reveal a great character flaw. Well, of course it does. But
while some might see it as a serious fault, I have found it to be my greatest virtue! Except, of
course, when it comes to writing, and most other tasks. My wife, Cynthia, who is an
excellent writer/poet, can fill you in on those particulars.
When it comes to art, I learned early in my career “I don't think necessity is the mother
that "The Big Four", lack of preparation, of invention. Invention... arises
disorganization, fuzzy thinking, and a lack of a directly from idleness, possibly also
consistent painting procedure undermined my from laziness. To save oneself
artistic expression and quality of my work. trouble.”
― Agatha Christie
The Big Four kill spontaneity and creativity in both the preparation and execution of a
painting. They cause the artist to get tangled in the weeds of unnecessary detail, hindered
by self-doubt, frustration, and procrastination.
They interrupt the flow of creative energy, just when you need it most.
Worst of all these things created fear and discouragement by making painting a lot more
work than it needs to be. And that's not good for a lazy guy like me.
Surely, you are not as lazy as I am, but I'll bet you have struggled with the "Big Four".
Solution:
Get to work being lazy!
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2
CHAPTER
The OPS Formula
You can rarely create your own opportunities, but you can
prepared yourself for them. I hope that the following about
myself and how I learned a valuable lesson, will help you
realize the importance of preparation in your art career.
The OPS Formula
The Great Irony
It takes a lot of work to be lazy!
Isn't that the way of life. What you desire most requires a commitment to what you desire
least!
When I was a youngster in the in grade school trying to learn arithmetic I was given a book
about a magic pencil that would make arithmetic easy. Boy! that was for me! The book told
the story of a kid that was unhappy because he was no good at arithmetic. One day, his
father showed him a magic pencil that would write the correct answer to every math
question his teacher gave him. In order to get the pencil he had to promise to practice very
hard learning a few simple rules for the next 30 days and he would be given the magic
pencil. So, he buckled down, and for the promise of the easy life set before him, he practiced
all those lessons.
At the end of the 30 days, he was given the magic pencil, and
sure enough, he was able to easily solve every problem his
teacher gave him. Well, I'm sure you're a lot smarter than that
kid. You know, of course, that the simple rules he studied
were the multiplication tables. Once they were engrained
arithmetic became easy.
It's amazing what a little preparation can achieve.
This book is will help you find your magic brush or pencil so that producing your art is more
fun and less frustrating and, yes, easier.
Get to work at preparation so that the really important things, like painting, will be easy
(easier).
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I
3P a i n t i n g t h e c o l o r s , l i g h t , a n d f e e l o f t h e S o u t h w e s t
Get to work at preparation so that the really important things, like painting, will be easy
The OPS Formula
I had serious self-esteem and inadequacy issues in my youth. I was very introverted and
greatly feared social interaction and speaking to a group was terrifying. In addition to other
issues, in grade school I had a speech impediment which with therapy was greatly improved
but in spite of improvement my personal confidence remained low.
My only avenue for personal affirmation was to make good grades and pursuing my love of
drawing. In college I majored in accounting and pre-law because my father was a lawyer
and my parents had convinced me that I should study something that led to a “real” job
instead of art. As part of my pre-law studies I was persuaded that I must take a course in
debate which I did with much trepidation.
My father and his older brother were attorneys and accomplished speakers/debaters. This
only aggravated my fear of failure and sure enough I was shown to be a terrible debater and
extemporaneous speaker. In debates I was tongue-tied, with my knees knocking, paralyzed,
and incapable of making a coherent presentation. I could often hear fellow debaters
giggling at my inadequacy and my embarrassment. High expectations because of my father
and uncles’ reputations only magnified my embarrassment as I proved myself a failure. This
failure was a real bottom of the barrel moment for me. I can remember sweat pouring down
my face when approaching a debate podium.
I was so panicked that the audience was a complete
blur and I could not focus on anyone. I actually became
dizzy and had to hang on to the lectern for dear life.
It was many years and much soul searching before I
learned the secret to overcoming my fear of failure. My
father's example and an unexpected job opportunity led
me to an awareness of the power of being prepared.
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The OPS Formula
My father did not speak much about
his work with us kids but I remember
him telling a story about when he
was a young attorney representing a
small farmer whose property had
been damaged by a poorly built
railroad drainage ditch adjacent to
his farm. On the day of the trial he
sat alone representing the farmer
when a team of high paid lawyers for
the railroad arrived.
It was obvious that they believed the mere show of over powering numbers and expensive
suits would frighten this young lawyer into settling the case quickly and to their advantage.
Well, he easily won the case and it wasn’t long before he was representing the railroad.
My father told me that the key to success as a
lawyer was to be better prepared than the
opposition. He said that his rule of thumb was to
always know more about a case than anyone
and in particular to know the oppositions
argument even better than they did. Pretentions
are worthless if you are well-prepared. I didn’t
fully appreciate this lesson of preparation until I
began my fine art career.
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The OPS Formula
Shortly after I got married and while still in college, a high school acquaintance approached
me with an offer to go with him and a group of other guys to sell Bibles door to door in
Tennessee. Even though this was the last job on earth I would have chosen for myself, our
desire to get away from everyone while my wife bloomed in her pregnancy convinced us to
take the offer. How could I have possibly known that this would be a life-changing decision.
We went to a week-long sales school in Nashville. At that school we were taught the
principles and techniques of selling. But most importantly we were taught the one thing that
made it work. To prepare for going door-to-door selling bibles, we were taught to memorize
a 15 minute sales talk, word for word.
We had to practice it over and over, in every situation,
and engrain the presentation into our minds so well
that no matter the distractions, we could recite it
perfectly. If we could do it perfectly 10 times in a row,
the idea was that we could do it at least once for a
real customer. In the field the fear and distractions
could only be overcome by being so well-prepared
that we could still present a perfect sales
presentation. Only by knowing this presentation and
the principles we had been taught could I have the
confidence to approach complete strangers in every
circumstance while walking into new neighborhoods
and knocking on 20-30 doors a day.
We learned that because of our
training and memorized sales
presentation we were in control of
every sales situation. Our
preparation allowed us to take
charge with confidence.
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The OPS Formula
I’ll never forget walking around a corner right into a multi-family front yard picnic. As people
began turning their heads toward this intruder, my first instinct was to make a swift retreat
and scoot to another home across the street. But with the confidence I had by training and
experience, this timid, inferior kid called all the family together, pulled up his sales kit, sat
down on it and gave a full presentation to this group of strangers who meekly gathered
around because someone took charge and though somewhat shocked, were willing listen to
my sales talk. I don’t remember if I sold any books, but I realized at that moment the power
of preparation and experience. I also finally understood something that my father had
taught me years before -
Opportunity plus Preparation equals Success.
Of course, there are some things we can do to find opportunities, but in most cases the
opportunities that are life changing come very unexpectedly and from unanticipated
sources. However, the thing that we can have direct and meaningful control over is our own
preparation. The preparation must be broad and deep in order to take advantage of the wide
variety of opportunities that will come our way. It is this kind of artistic preparation upon
which this book is focused.
I'm not talking about opportunities to make
money. The most important opportunities
for which to be prepared are those where
your skill and knowledge level give you the
confidence to act - to take that unexpected
commission, to approach that gallery, to
enter that show, to take on any challenge.
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3
CHAPTER
Learning the Ropes
• Weekend Pretender to Bunkhouse Cowboy
• Limitations are Your Friend
• The Search
• Confirmation
Learning the Ropes
The business into which I had poured 30
years of work was going bankrupt, forcing
me to sell it and my home to avoid
bankruptcy.
I took what resources I had, along with
help from family, and in my 50’s started
painting full time.
"Family Business" by Mike Mahon
Weekend Pretender to Bunkhouse Cowboy
I quickly found out that painting full-time was very different from painting occasionally on
weekends. When I was painting infrequently, getting lost or frustrated with a painting was
relatively easy to deal with. I’d just lay off of it for a week or two or come back to it later or
start something new.
However, when painting daily it seemed like virtually every painting was fraught with a
constant frustration, a feeling of being lost, and a lack of certainty and confidence. More
often than not I felt lost through most of the painting. The only real enjoyment I got was
when I would bring it together in the last few minutes. A few minutes of pleasure on top of 3
or 4 hours of frustration soon proved to be a recipe for failure. Occasional frustration on the
weekend you can live with, but on a daily basis it will lead to burn-out. Was I going to fail?
I became discouraged because my painting efforts were not coming together as I had
hoped. I was frequently frustrated by the painting process and so even at that early stage
was feeling burned out.
I realized that I needed more structure and control of the painting process but fine art as I
knew it didn't seem to offer helpful guidelines.
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Learning the Ropes
Limitations are Your Friend
The second thing I learned when I began painting full time was that there didn't seem to be
many guidelines or rules. Few art schools were teaching the basics of art. The art school I
attended did a pretty good job but like most others, it was influenced by the fine art world
that was saying - "You don't need rules. They just inhibit your creativity!" or "The idea of
beauty is old fashioned and subjective, art is just self-expression and who is to say what is
good or bad?"
This approach did not work in the commercial art world that I had worked in for 30 years.
There were budgets and clients to satisfy. The idea of no rules and no limitations seems
exhilarating. But it has its drawbacks. It can work against you.
Limitations force you to be creative and focused. No limitations usually result in
unproductive laziness because it's too tempting to follow the easiest path to a goal. This is
the opposite kind of laziness to that which produces preparedness.
No limitations usually results in unproductive “The enemy of art is the absence of
laziness because it's too tempting to follow the limitations.”.”
easiest path to a goal. This is the opposite kind of ― Orson Wells
laziness to that which produces preparedness.
In art school the professor would create design projects with varied parameters. For
example, we might be required to create a design using only 2 black rectangles, one triangle
and 3 circles of a particular size on a particular size canvas. After 6 weeks of this he gave us
our final project. We could do what ever we liked-no limitations. This was by far the most
difficult design project.
Fine art is much the same way. You have to know how to set your own parameters,
guidelines.
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Learning the Ropes
The Search
I wanted to know what skills and knowledge I needed to
master and a consistent painting procedure that
worked no matter what I painted. I didn't want to
reinvent the wheel every time I started a new painting.
I committed to going to several art workshops a year,
reading art literature, and finding a mentor. I coalesced
all the fundament principles of art from my teachers
which were principles established over centuries of art
instruction. I then added the component of prioritizing
the principles into seven chronological steps which I
called The DiVine SETUP or Aesthetic Categories. I did
not want to continually have to refer to documentation
to remember these principles, so I developed a
mnemonic to make them easy to remember. They
could be applied on the fly before, during, and after the
painting process.
IThese seven principles served as a foundation to help myself and my students to choose
the best image to paint, to analyze the image, to analyze the painting in progress, to self-
critique one’s work, and to critique other paintings with authority.
I was fortunate to have a mentor, Ben Konis, who trained in the New York Art Students
League. He taught me a step-by-step painting procedure that (combined with the DiVine
SETUP principles) virtually guaranteed successful paintings. With this process I could be
certain of success before I started or at least with in the first 30 minutes.
This, along with my set-by-step painting procedure, helps remove frustration during the
process, instill confidence, and maintain control.
With these principles and process my career really took off.
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Learning the Ropes
Confirmation
While the visual arts are most frequently a very solitary endeavor, it takes unusual
confidence to be sure of your abilities without confirmation of others, especially your peers.
Friends and family are great encouragers but at some point objective validation is needed
by those of us lacking in confidence. It was time to step out of my cocoon and introduce
myself to the world of fine art.
As a completely unknown fine artist, I fearfully entered my first regional art exhibition. You
need to understand that in my community I was known mainly as a commercial
photographer and graphic artist. I belonged to no art associations, local or otherwise. I had
not show my work to anyone except to enter a small local show 10 years previously. It was a
scary thing to enter such a show because the judge of the show was the head of the art
department of a major nearby university. I felt that my decision to pursue fine art was on the
judgement block. The day after entering, I returned to see what entries may not have been
juried into the show so that I could pick them up. When I gave my name at the show desk,
the show director pulled me aside and asked my name again and asked why she had never
heard of me before. Being my first show, I really thought I had done something wrong. She
then told me that not only were all of my entries accepted but that I had won Best of Show,
1st Place in Pastels, 1st Place in Watercolor, 1st Place in Photography and 2nd place in Oil.
She told me this was unprecedented and that she had to direct the judge to quit giving me
all the first place awards.
When I returned home, my wife and I wept
because we knew we had make the right decision.
I consistently won best-ofshow and 1st place
awards in many art shows after that. Being
awarded Best of Show in a national painting
competition in Santa Fe, New Mexico years later
confirmed to me the value of my early
commitment to the DiVine SETUP and Ben Konis's
painting procedure.
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4
CHAPTER
Prepare to Excel
There are many forms of art beside fine art - graphic,
industrial, fashion, culinary, musical, literary, architectural, etc.
Where ever artists express themselves with skill and
imagination the common evidence of true art is the pursuit of
EXCELLENCE.
The DiVine SETUP is designed to provide a structure and
inspiration for that pursuit.
Prepare to Excel
All artists are self-taught. Instructors are simply guides.
"Rules are the building blocks of
creativity, not the stumbling blocks",
Cynthia Mahon, poet.
When I was asked to teach others the secrets of my success as a painter, I began an in-
depth examination of my painting procedure which was based on being highly prepared for
each painting before starting it. If a painting is worth doing, it is worth preparing for. I had a
pretty good handle on my painting approach but in order to be able to communicate it to
others, I had to completely re-think it.
First, it had to be comprehensive but simple and memorable.
Secondly, it had to emphasize the process and not just the end result.
Thirdly, it had to apply to every painting regardless of subject matter.
I wrote out a detailed account of exactly what principles and procedures that were needed.
My students would need to understand how to prepared to succeed and what repeatable
sequence of steps they must go through with every painting.
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Prepare to Excel
In all the arts but especially the visual arts, metaphors and similes are our constant
companions. They not only guide our images but are a great aid in understanding non-verbal
concepts. The great dancer, Isadora Duncan, was once asked the meaning of one of her
modern dances. She replied, "If I could have said it, I wouldn't have danced it!"
A painting is like building a house.
You put a foundation down and then you put up
the framing. You put in the wiring, the plumbing,
the wallboard, the windows and then the last
thing you do is hang curtains.
With many people the first thing they want to do is hang the curtains. Everything before that
is unimportant because the curtains were the focus of their vision. Never mind that the
house would collapse without a proper foundation. Everything up to the curtains is
unattractive and looks like a failure to them.
In the painting process there's always a stage where you think it looks awful. How am I
going to make this work? What happens is that we don't know how to judge the success of
the painting according to the stage it's in.
But you need to learn to judge the foundation. When you lay the foundation, as a contractor,
you look at what is a beautiful foundation it is. It's level, it's smooth, it’s flat, it's solid and
you can be satisfied and feel, okay, success. Instead of thinking, "that doesn't look like a
house yet."! And that's the way with painting. You must learn to judge each stage of the
construction of a painting for itself and not the final product.
So you learn what the steps are so you can judge each stage for its own beauty and achieve
success and satisfaction at all stages and not just the final. To avoid frustration and
impatience you must learn to love the process!
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Prepare to Excel
Painting is like fighting a battle.
in the first 20 or 30 minutes I want to see that my painting is going to be successful - that
it's going to work. The following hours of painting much more enjoyable because I've won
the battle in the first 20 minutes. It's the beginning of a painting that determines its success.
All of the important decisions and ground work are determined at the beginning. Success is
a matter of carrying through with well laid plans and appropriate skills.
Uncertainty is our greatest enemy!
If you are leading soldiers into battle,
what is the best way to motivate them?
Do you say, "OK, guys, I don't know for
sure what we're getting into. It will
probably be a long slog. I don't know if
we will be victorious, but, by Jove!, go
out there and give it all you've got!"
Or would you like to say, "I can assure you that we will be victorious today. The battle field
and the enemy have been carefully studied. Every step of the battle plan has been
thoroughly worked out and tested. Each of you will know precisely what your objective is
and how to achieve it. Most importantly we have spies in the enemy ranks that have
informed us of their strengths and weaknesses and given us a map through their mine
fields. Success should be confirmed in the first half hour and merely mopping up after that.
So, by Jove, enjoy the process and heat up some coffee for break time. "
Which speech is most likely to motivate for success, option one or option two?
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Prepare to Excel
Categories of the Artist's Mind
"DiVine" refers to universal principles of art. "SETUP" is a reminder that these categories
are to be considered from the very beginning of a painting and are foundational. They
actually apply to theater, music, visual arts, sculpture, and architecture. If you know
these principles, you can apply them to any area of the arts. They give structure to your
artistic problem solving. Each category can be discretely judged for its attributes
independent of the others as you develop your creative endeavor.
The order is second only to the principles themselves. There is a natural progression in
which each category builds upon the previous. Considered out of this order weakens
their effectiveness and efficiency. This is true both in the development of an image and
its actual production.
P D1 All categories must be carefully
considered but the first category,
7 Drawing/Design, is preimenant. As you
2 progress in consideration of the
categories the impact of previous
U6 V categories becomes more and more
obvious. For example, the character of
3 the last two categories, unity and
perspective, are almost completely
T S5 determined by how well you handled the
E4 previous 5 categories.
While the characteristics of each category need to be analyzed individually, its impact on
the other categories can not be ignored. Rather than a strictly a hierarchical chart, a
circular representation of the DiVine SETUP is more descriptive as one category flows into
the next.
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Skill and Knowledge
You begin the painting in your head by visualizing what it is you want based upon your
subject matter. The DiVine SETUP serves as the organizing principle. It forces you to
think like an artist, In artistic or aesthetic categories. An untrained artist will too often
think in literal categories, i.e., tree, rock, river, face, etc. This causes your mind to refer
back to categories it has already created for tree, rock, etc. Remember how lazy I am.
Our minds are lazy, too. Why analyze that tree out there when I've got a perfectly good
tree image stored away in the "tree category" of my mind that I created when I was 12
years old? The Aesthetic Categories are empirical and objective leading you to really see
and analyze what is before you for what it is, not preconceived notions. For example,
determining whether that tree is a 40% or 60% value is a quantitative judgement
requiring serious observation that happens when you analyze the subject by virtue of
category two.
You have to have the skill to translate what you see out there to a canvas in
order to have the ability to actually put your interpretation on it and to paint
what you want it to be not necessarily
what it is, hopefully better than what it is.
Otherwise why are you painting? "Learn to paint what you see so that you
are able to paint what you want to see."
Charles Reid
There are many approaches to painting. What's important is that you have a systematic
and consistent approach. Mine is basically simple and easy to remember especially for
the beginners. It applies classic art principles in a prioritized, consistent process.
The DiVine SETUP sets up the painting
to succeed from the beginning.
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My approach to teaching art/painting
1. Art has objective truths and rules - not just subjective or uniquely innate talent/gift.
2. Art and drawing skills are learnable & teachable to the motivated student.(music, etc.)
3. Art begins as a craft which it ultimately transcends as skill increases.
I think that there are objective rules and principles and truths about art. It's not simply a
subjective experience. It is that, but it's also objective. You don't have to have a unique
talent or gift. There are some people that do have unique talents and gifts that fly above
us all, but anybody with normal abilities, if they have the desire, can paint successfully.
This is because, essentially, art is a craft to begin with that can be learned and is
teachable, but you have to be motivated just like in anything else.
So that's the key. It is motivation.
I've seen some very good artist that weren’t motivated and that never accomplished
anything. Some people that I thought shouldn't ever even be near a canvas we're so
fired up they amazed me. So it's all about desire and learning the right skills. Because if
you take a craft, any craft, whether it’s playing the piano or any kind of artistic endeavor
and you develop the skills level there's a point that you transcend that craft. It becomes
art because it becomes an expression of you.
It’s like driving a car. At first, at
least for me, you had to manage a
clutch, gear shift, gas petal, etc.
and everything seemed so
awkward. But after a while, you
can drive for hours and barely be
aware of all the innate decisions
and actions you made. Painting
can be much the same, leaving
you to concentrate on the
creativity.
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
5
CHAPTER
DiVine SETUP
The DiVine SETUP is also referred to as the Aesthetic
Categories. That's because the DiVine SETUP is simply a
pneumonic to help you remember the Aesthetic Categories
and keep them in the most useful order.
These principles are not meant to just be used in the painting
process but also in the thought process prior to even
beginning the painting, in the selection of the subject matter,
and in the critique at the end of the painting..
DiVine SETUP
1 Design/DrawingThe first consideration to produce a successful painting
2 ValuesControl of values determines the power and impact of painting.
3 ShapesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit,Lorem ipsum
dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit?
Edges
4 Critical to directing eye movement and creating atmosphere
Temperature
5 Control color and create balance by mastering temperature
Unity
6 Every painting is its own universe
Perspective
7 Cheat Creatively to get 3 dimensions on 2 dimensional surface
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1 Design/DrawingThe chief consideration in determining the success of a painting
D - Design (composition)
Drawing and Design are two sides of the same coin. Virtually everything that can be
said about the importance of design applies to drawing, as well. However drawing is
beyond the scope of this book.
Design is the primary element to determine success of painting.
No matter how good other elements are or how well executed, if design is weak, the
painting will be weak
Determine primary center of interest or focal point and work out from there
The paintings that are in the museums have great design. There are a lot of paintings that
didn't get into museums that were just as good in every other way, but the design is the
critical factor. If it's not a good design, no matter how good a painter you are, it’s going to
be a weak painting. It’s kind of like music. It's the composer that creates the music not
just the musician. It is primarily the great music composers that are remembered. No
matter how well you do everything else, the design has got to be deliberate and effective.
In the kind of painting that I do which is more or less center of interest painting,
representational painting, you find a focal point, the center of interest and you work out
from there. Everything relates to it.
Many artists like to rush forward
thinking that their pure 'emotions' are
more important on the paper than
good proportions... eventually having
to return into clumsy areas and
correct, correct, correct. That's when
the freshness disappears. (Harley
Brown)
Mike in his Santa Fe, NM, studio.
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1 Design/DrawingThe chief consideration in determining the success of a painting
Avoid competing centers of interest.
The first thing with the design is that you need to tell one story in terms of the colors,
values, subject matter, shapes, etc. If you have more stories to tell, do more paintings. But
don't try to do too many stories or more than one basic story in one single painting.
Here's an example.
This is a painting I did several years ago and it was in a major show judged by Scott
Christiansen. He judged the show and I went and asked him, if he could give me a critique
of my painting. He then said that the only problem with it was that it had two centers of
interests.
He said, "It had this big red triangle and the woman. Which one is the story about.?" I
thought, wow, you see that’s what I want a judge to do. Tell me why things don't work. Too
many times they’ll say, it just didn't touch me.
Look what happens when I subdue red triangle in the first image. It's still there but I kill it
and now there's one story. It’s all about the woman. That's a good example of one center of
interest. It's ok to have secondary centers of interest but one should dominate.
I'll use this same painting to discuss the principle of unity later.
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1 Design/DrawingThe chief consideration in determining the success of a painting
Tell one story.
You need to tell one story in terms of the colors, values, subject matter, shapes, etc. If
you have more stories to tell, do more paintings. But don't try to do too many stories or
more than one basic story in one single painting.
"Chamisa Window" by Mike Mahon 3
The painting above worked much
better when to large areas of the
painting were not competing with
one another. It would have been
better as two separate paintings.
Notice also, how there is a much
more interesting proportional
relationship between the warm
and cool areas of the painting.
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
1 Design/DrawingThe chief consideration in determining the success of a painting
Your job is to direct the viewers eye to your center of interest.
Here's a Rembrandt painting. Look at the way he directs you through that painting with
those stairs. Isn’t that incredible. You follow it all the way to the center of interest. He's
got the man with the lightest light and the darkest dark area, the brightest colors,
everything right there. Your eyes are led right to it.
That's what you're trying to do. You don't even notice his secondary center of interest
which is another little guy sitting over here stoking the fire. But if you played this up, then
you go back and forth.
Psychology Center of interest.
One aspect other than visual
qualities is the impact of the
human form or face in a painting.
They can over power everything
else as they become a
psychological center of interest.
The human form is always going to
draw your eye. The advertising
world has always known and
exploited this. Obviously the center
of interest is the face in this
painting.
As I see it our job as designers is to find as many varied routes for the eye
to follow through the composition as possible.
(Peter Folkes)
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
1 Design/DrawingThe chief consideration in determining the success of a painting
Center of Interest
Painting
To enhance your focal point or
center of interest concentrate
the most contrast in that area
and use lines of reference to
direct the eye.
"Chamisa Arroyo" by Mike Mahon
Elements of the image soften and The following contrasts should be at or near your
become more suggestive as they center of interest.
recede from the center of interest.
Lightest lights and the darkest darks. Center of
interest has greatest mass of lights and is
surrounded by darkest darks in this image.
Warmest warms and the coolest cools,
Complementary colors work especially well as
here with yellow & purple juxtaposed.
Hardest and softest edges
Brightest and dullest, color wise
Greatest detail, preferably next to a simple area
for contrast.
Lines of reference should move toward 3
the center of interest.
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
1 Design/DrawingThe chief consideration in determining the success of a painting
The psychological center of interest are
the faces in this painting by Gainsbourgh.
But notice how every other kind of
contrast is in or near the center of
interest.
The darkest part of the painting are the
girls eyes and maybe the cast shadow
area right in between their heads.
The lightest area is next to and around
those eyes.
The warmest warms of the painting are
their lips.
"The Artists Daughters with Cat" by T. Gainsbourgh
The greatest detail is in the face and the largest areas of simplicity are the light areas of
skin of the face, neck, and chest of each girl.
As you move away from this center
of interest, further and further away,
look how much the detail drops off
and the brushstrokes become very subtle and less distinct. Until looking down at the
hands, they are just simple little brushstrokes. They're almost like gesture drawing but
they're accurate. They're still accurate but there's no detail. This isn’t a painting about a
little girl’s hands. He doesn't want to distract you from the face by overdoing the hands.
Think how much time it saves.
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
1 Design/DrawingThe chief consideration in determining the success of a painting
How many times have you spent hours working a little detail over in the corner of your
canvas? Nobody cares about that detail.
If your center of interest works everything else can be very subtle and suggestive and
look much more painterly. But if you work the detail around the periphery of the painting
to the same degree you do in the center of interest it just looks labored and overworked.
The center of center of interest of
the painting on the left has the
lightest lights, the warmest warms,
the most detail. The foreground and
especially the background become
more undefined as they recede from
the center of interest.
"Netting the Notice in these two painting below
Pedernales" by Homer that all the detail is
by Mike Mahon reserved for the center of interest.
Other than the figures, everything
else are just supporting characters
in a play.
You don't want to put a spotlight on
them.
"Fishing" by Homer Design is everything. (William
Merritt Chase)
"Boys in a Pasture"
by Homer
You can save so much time in a painting.
Instead of spending 10 hours on it, you can do it in
three hours because you're not drawing every blade of
grass or every leaf on the tree.
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
1 Design/DrawingThe chief consideration in determining the success of a painting
Overall Design
There are many basic design types and each has its own use and impact.
It is important to consider the overall design as well as the center of interest. How you get to
that center of interest and how the structure of the entire painting affects the impact of the
image. As with all of the design types the impact of the image can be strengthened by
subdue elements that detract from the type and enhancing elements that enhance. This
serves to increase the unity as well as the impact by simplifying the design.
Static Design
A static design reflects stability and
dignity. It is usually a dominated by
pyramid-like shape where it's wide at the
base and is pointed at the top. It is used
most commonly in portraits and mountain
scenes.
Almost any portrait of a notable person
will be a static design.
"Moor Trader" by Mike Mahon "Golden Harvest " by Mike Mahon
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1 Design/DrawingThe chief consideration in determining the success of a painting
Overall Design
A Dynamic Design.
This design type emphasizes strong diagonals. By
nature it creates a feeling of movement and
excitement. Dynamic designs make use of lines of
reference and points of reference that lead the eye
across the painting as indicated in these examples.
"Mexican Somboro" Dynamic brushstrokes
by Mike Mahon and strong contrasts can
enhance the feeling of
movement and
excitement as in the
center image.
"Keep a Sharp Eye"
by Mike Mahon
These painting examples contain a multitude of
diagonals which emphasizes the sense of movement
and drama. When multiple dyangonals exist in an
image, very often a secondary design type is
introduced - Cruciform.
"Delgado Crossroad"
by Mike Mahon
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
1 Design/DrawingThe chief consideration in determining the success of a painting
Overall Design
Cruciform Design
Anytime the major design elements cross and create an X or cross, it is a cruciform
design. You don’t necessarily pose it that way but sometimes the shapes in a scene
suggest a cruciform. This is one of most frequently used design type. Once you are
aware of it, you will see it often in galleries and museums.
"Girl Talk" by Mike Mahon "Tauras Bulba"
by Mike Mahon
"Shade Merchant" by Mike Mahon
The boy was leaning against a wall here and he was actually selling hats but he had
maybe one or two hats sitting next to him. I saw the suggestion of a cruciform and
added a group of hats to really strengthen that cruciform design.
When you have an interesting scene look for suggestions of a design and organize the
elements to strengthen the design. Other times you may start with a particular design
type and organize the elements to fit it. In either case, this strengthens the design by
simplifying the overall structure of the painting
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
1 Design/DrawingThe chief consideration in determining the success of a painting
Overall Design
Spiral Design
Frequently, the reference photo only suggests an overall design. in the market scene below,
the people were as indicated but the food was completely different. The heads and arms of
the people suggested a very strong directional movement. I simply arranged the food to
continue the spiral design that leads the eye back to the people. Exploiting design cues can
convert mundane subject mater into an inspired painting.
Similarly, the light and shadows were
rearranged in the painting below to
accentuate the spiral movement of the
donkey caravan.
"Mexican Somboro"
by Mike Mahon
Spiral designs are very useful in "Delgado Crossroad"
painting the human figure. By by Mike Mahon
posing the model so that each
segment of her body is pointed in The head, shoulders, thorax,
a different direction, a spiral hips, even the eyes create a
movement is created that coiled form that expresses the
converts this static pose into a stored energy inherent in the
dynamic spiral. spiral spiral
"Memories" by Mike Mahon
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
1 Design/DrawingThe chief consideration in determining the success of a painting
Overall Design
Asymetric Design
"Dancers at the Barre" by E. Degas
"Glad Rag by Mike Mahon
Here's asymmetry, where you have all the detail and interest in one part of the painting
and the other major portion of the painting there's nothing or very little.
It is also that he was wearing a white t-shirt.
Well, that’s not very interesting.
It actually was much more interesting just to have nothing there to play against the
detail.
So I slightly exaggerated the asymmetrical aspect of this image.
Here's another example by the great pastelists, Degas.
Look at what he did with this scene.
The large empty floor creates an asymmetrical design that actually helps focus on the
main subject of the dancers. I also give the eye a place to rest against from all the
detail of the dancers.
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
1 Design/DrawingThe chief consideration in determining the success of a painting
Overall Design
Geometric Design
"Backdoor Rendezvous"
by Mike Mahon
"Blue Door" by Mike Mahon
This scene was a scene that had some elements here and I
just accentuated all the geometric shapes.
In here you see the repeated squares and rectangles and
so forth.
Here is the ultimate example of geometric design, of
course, a Mondrian.
"Composition with Red, Yellow, Blue by Piet Mondrian
After you have designed the composition, everything else you do is merely execution -
not that execution is by any means trivial, but virtuosity of execution is for naught if the
composition is wanting.
(John Gargano)
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
1 Design/DrawingThe chief consideration in determining the success of a painting
Overall Design
Most Important Design Consideration No Design
Design
The most important single consideration in terms of design are the edges Design
of the canvas. Everything is in a relationship to those fixed edges. Ironically, Design
the most ignored but yet the most important aspect of design is being
conscious of the edges of your canvas. Every painting is a study of the
proportional relationship between the elements of you image to the edge of
the canvas.
Until at least one dot is added to a blank canvas, no design exists. Once a
single dot is introduced there exists a design because it is now in a
relationship to the edges. The exact center of the canvas is a very stable but
very boring center of interest because the dot is equidistant to all opposing
edges of the canvas.
However, when you start moving that dot, the design becomes more dynamic and interesting
because there is no longer an equal distance between the dot and opposing edges.
There seems to be a hard wired preference that prefers this varied distancing from the edges.
It is the very human preference for unity and diversity in every aspect of our lives. We desire
the unity and stability of the defined space of the canvas. However, we seek visual diversity in
the placement of elements. It is with this realization that we come to one of the most useful
design truths in art.
The edge of a painting is its frontier... where the artist negotiates his boundaries
with the real world... where art begins and ends and where the eye enters and leaves
the image. It determines, in an infinitely subtle number of ways, how you read a
painting - which, unlike a book or a piece of music, has no pre-determined beginning
or end. (Andrew Graham-Dixon)
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest xxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
1 Design/DrawingThe chief consideration in determining the success of a painting
Overall Design
Most Important Design Consideration
Solve 80% of Design Problems Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds says that if you divide a canvas vertically and Rule of Thirds
horizontally into thirds, the intersection points of the dividing
lines are the ideal locations for a center of interest or focal
point. This is because these points seem to be the best
balance between unity and diversity. But more importantly they
closely approximate the what is know as the golden mean,
golden proportion, or the Fibonacci ratio. This proportional ratio
is not arbitrary but an established mathematical formula that
defines pleasing standards of design through out nature and, in
fact, the universe.
Generally if you are struggling as to where
to position the center of interest be, eighty
percent of the time is, it’s going to be
where these points intersect or near them.
In center of interest painting like I do, it is
very important to have only one dominate
center of interest. If there are secondary
centers of interest they should be subdued
and, if possible, at another intersection of
the grid.
El Prado II by Mike Mahon
The center of interest does not have to be precisely at an intersection point but at least
roughly centered on that point. A secondary center of interest is very effective if also
centered on an opposing intersection point of the rule of thirds.
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
1 Design/DrawingThe chief consideration in determining the success of a painting
Overall Design
Examples of Rule of Thirds Design Choices
The most important part of a portrait is the triangle of the "Repose" by John Singer Sargent
eyes down to their mouths. In this study of Marco below
that triangle is right in the ideal center of interest.
These classic paintings are only a sample of the use
of the rule of thirds for design. The placement of the
centers of interest and secondary centers of interest
are not by accident. Visit any gallery or museum and
you will find this design technique predominates.
Most digital cameras have the capability to show the "Rule
of Thirds" grids in the view finder. Using this grid will
greatly improve your composition in taking reference
photos.
Combine
physcological
center of interest
and rule of thirds
for increased
impact.
"Degas" by Edouardo Manét
Where is the center
of interest in this
Degas painting?
"Marco" by Mike Mahon "The Dance Class" by Degas
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
1 Design/DrawingThe chief consideration in determining the success of a painting
Overall Design
Examples of Rule of Thirds Design Choices
"Soft Sale" by Mike Mahon "Adobe Sunset by Mike Mahon
A variation of the third/third design is to As above, in landscapes the third/third
push the center of interest significantly segmentation is usually best for placement
beyond one of the thirds as in "Soft Sale". of foregrounds, eye lines, and especially sky
In the landscape below the sky/land lines. As a rule of thumb the land and sky
proportion was 1 to 6 which greatly are in a one third to two thirds relationship.
increase the drama of the scene. The sky might be the top third of the canvas
and the ground takes up the bottom
two/thirds or visa versa.
A good design for a painting means "xxx
nothing unless you have the
knowledge and skill it takes to 3
execute it in a way that will satisfy
you. (Daniel J. Keys)
"Chama Escarpement" by Mike Mahon
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
2 ValuesSecond only to design, control of values determines the quality of your
painting.
The understanding of values is a vast undertaking but for the artist few principles are
more important. We will look at the most important of these under the following topic
headings: Color is an inborn gift, but
Value Perception - Dynamic Range appreciation of value is merely
Values are Relative training of the eye, which everyone
Values Create Abstract Design ought to be able to acquire. (John
Grouping or Massing Values Singer Sargent)
Artist Gray Scale
Gray Scale & Value Finder Tool
Most people have a good perception of color 5. 4 3 2 1
but a poor perception of values. It is
important to learn how to use the basic 6 7 8. 9 10
artist's value finder to train and assist the eye.
Conforming the vast variety of colors to the
relatively simple and easily discernible steps
of value between black and white is the key to
determining the value of a color field.
Above is a 10 step color value finder arranged in steps of gray from black to white, steps 1
through 10 respectively. This tool is very helpful in taking the guess work out of determining
values in a photo or painting.
It is relatively easy to judge the value of gray fields but judging the values of colors in
reference to a gray scale can be more difficult because colors can vary quite a bit, not only
in hue but also in saturation or intensity. Adding to this difficulty is the fact that colors and
gray values are processed in different parts of the brain*. Even with these difficulties
judging relative values can be easily done with a little practice.
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
2 ValuesSecond only to design, control of values determines the quality of your
painting.
Value Perception - Dynamic Range
For the artist, values refer to the incremental steps of light to dark, i.e., from white to black.
There can be virtually any number of incremental steps of gray values between black and
white. The sensitively of the recording instrument, whether camera or human eye,
determines exactly how many steps of gray are perceptible and thus the visual information
received.
21 Step Gray Scale - Dynamic Range of 21 The steps of gray between white and black are also
referred to as dynamic range. For example this 21 step
gray scale has a dynamic range of 21. The old black
and white CRT TV screens had a dynamic range or d-
max of 50.
That is as much as a CRT screen can discretely record on the gray scale of white to black.
Photographic prints, have a d-max of about 150. Slides go up to about 200 to 250 d-max.
Dmax is important because it determines how much detail is recorded in especially dark or
light areas. For example, with a low d-max details in shadows in a deep forest or in a bright
sky would be lost. In the gray scales below it is easy to see how values at the high and low
end of the scale are massed together and significant detail is lost. The lower the d-max the
worse the effect.
The limited d-max of a camera is why the dark shadows in a photograph often just look
black or the sky is washout white. It's because even the most sensitive digital camera can
only record or perceive a fraction of the values our eyes can. The human eye can register up
to one hundred thousand steps from white to black, a d-max of 100,000 (Mascelli's Cine
Workbook by Joseph V. Mascelli, A.S.C.). That's how sensitive our eyes are to values. That
alone should give you an idea how important values are to our visual perception.
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
2 ValuesSecond only to design, control of values determines the quality of your
painting.
A piano keyboard is a good analogy to
better understand dynamic range as
described below by Douglas Henderson,
douglashenderson.com.
"We understand that there are tones
(audio) above and beyond the range of
tones a piano keyboard can play. But the
dynamic range of tones a piano can play
is limited.
Great music can has been made within this limited range of tones, but it was all limited to
the range the piano can play. Your eyes have a broad range of tones in which it can see
detail. But a digital camera, compared to our eyes, has a keyboard (range of tones) slightly
more than half of what our eyes do. Every thing above or below the narrow range of tones
the digital camera can record, even though we can see it, will be lost, truncated to that
deepest tone, or the highest pitch of the camera's very narrow keyboard."
To me, painting – all painting – is not Value does all the work and color gets
so much the intelligent use of color as all the glory. (Author unknown)
the intelligent use of value. If the
values are right, the color cannot help
but be right. (Joe Singer)
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Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
2 ValuesSecond only to design, control of values determines the quality of your
painting.
Gray Scale & Value Finder Tool
How to use the Value Finder Tool
Find the value of a hue by placing the value finder over the color and squint. Where the gray
value and color seem to blend together, that is the color's value. Although there are very
different hues and intensities in the illustration below, the value of each color field is at #5
or#6 which is approximately a 50% gray.
All of these colored A BC
EF
boxes are the same
value. It is relatively 6
easy to see that
gray#6 is the value of
Box (A). It's not so D
easy in box(D). Using
the technique below
will help remedy the
problem.
Notice how the lower range of hues are When it is difficult to see where the gray and
more saturated versions of the upper color values match, squint and compare the
range. The tendency is to interpret more darker range of values, #1-#5, where the color
intense hues as lighter in value. However, is clearly lighter. Then move toward the
by studying the value finder you will see middle tone until the color is not as clearly
that they are all the same value. lighter. Do the same with the lighter values
#6_#10. Move towards the middle tone until
When beginning artists understand the the color is not as clearly darker than the
and use values for the first time, there lighter values. The value at which the dark
is usually a quantum leap in the quality and light range meets is the correct value.
of their painting. (Paul deMarrais)
www.mmahon.com 3
Painting the colors, light, and feel of the Southwest
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EBOOK DiVine SETUP 3-92
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