featuring words from the late Ken Auster

There are a lot of ways to create paintings, and every instructor will have a way of doing something that works for them . Every way that each instructor has is the right way. The way Ken would explain it was (and still does) with terms that hopefully a student will understand. His teaching is a way which equates painting to just about everything else you do in your regular life.  It comes down to the reasons things work or don’t work. One thing that tends to resonate with students is the idea of mixing paint color. Ken utilized the term “DNA,” because the color that you create for whatever object that you are putting in the painting is made up of whatever colors you are working with.

There is no book or recipe that tells you how to make a pine tree, for example. It is whatever color you come up with. But, whatever color you come up with, is the “DNA” to make the pine tree in YOUR painting. The idea is to carry that same DNA for that object continually through the painting so you don’t jump around. This way, you are not forced to try to find the DNA of it after your palette is full of other objects, or other “DNA”’s.

To give you an idea, all things that are in a painting diminish back into the atmosphere equally. The only way you can create a three dimensional world on a two dimensional surface is three ways: atmosphere, form, and perspective. The atmosphere is where we evolve with the DNA. Every object that goes back in distance is equally veiled by the atmosphere that it is around. A pine tree does not turn into an aspen if it’s a mile away. The same color that is used in that particular object is the same, whether it is close to you or far away, in a shadow or a highlight. The only thing that may change is the intensity or the value of that color, which is diminished by the atmosphere equally amongst all the different objects. A German Shepard, a walrus, a pine tree, or an elephant are all going to be veiled equally by atmosphere as they go back into the distance. They will all equally be veiled, and they won’t change.

These words from Ken came directly from his Self-Study course. Since Ken's passing in 2016, his self-study course has been coveted by many painters and he continues to pass on his knowledge and passion. Click below to find out how you can be a part of it: