An Accent Waiting to Happen...

Kira (12x16)

Study sketches -- their either good, or good for you (but preferably both). When you squint your eyes looking at your subject, details fall away and all that's left are a variety of shapes and values... This is the best approach to doing a study from life, stripping down to the bare essentials (pun intended). What I wanted to blog on here are the accent strokes... Accents can be light or dark, usually hard edged and potent (high contrast within it's particular context). Accents are usually small and serve two purposes; to link together bigger shapes and to draw attention to an area...

Detail

Here, the accents are the 2 dark cast shadow strokes of her knee against her shin, and the robe against the couch. Accent strokes are only effective when executed with an obvious spontaneity -- a deliberate single stroke. In other words, not rendered, finessed or smoothly overworked in several brush strokes. Make it work like an exclamation mark to amplify a statement. Used properly and sparingly, accents marks can say a lot with little and lend integrity to the overall picture.

For far better inspiration than mine, study the trinity of Sorolla, Sargent & Zorn; masters of the accent stroke and saying more with less...