San Francisco-based artist Tom Colcord approaches his plein air painting with a unique mindset. When asked what he means by “the flow,” he references hip hop, a style of music that values how a rapper moves through and on a melody flowing over the propulsive beats of a song. Often the words of a rap song are less important than the syncopation of the vocal performance; it’s the delivery, not so much the lyrical content.
“I want a flow of a space that keeps you engaged,” Tom says.
“With a good flow, you don’t think about the subject matter. When rap has good flow, it’s a rollercoaster ride on which it’s not so much what they are saying as how they are saying it. In painting, it’s not so much the figure or the tree, cactus, or sculpture of a panther you’re depicting that’s important — it’s just how they work together in a harmonious way. It’s not about what they are, specifically.”
So while many plein air artists try to capture a singular “moment” (often a light effect that lasts a bit longer than a conventional moment), Tom is going for something else. His interest in depicting more of what’s there as opposed to editing a scene down to its most important essence is more akin to that of a conscientious writer who edits every paragraph until it is exactly “right.”
A Maximalist While Plein Air Painting
If an artist learns much about a subject by looking at it for three hours during an on-site painting session, imagine what can be learned by studying the subject and painting it for 30 to 40 hours. Such is Tom’a approach; he refers to himself as a “maximalist,” a painter who shows as much detail as possible.
Tom often speaks of nature and the scenes he paints as “abundant” and “generous,” and he portrays as much of them as he can. The viewer could believe that every withered leaf and wandering tendril is depicted. They aren’t, but it’s close. If the subject matter is at all physically changeable by the artist, as it would be if he were to paint his back patio, then he may move elements to enhance the composition. But he believes in composing by framing. Whatever he decides are the limits of the scene become the edges of his canvas, and all that falls within gets depicted.
“I include all I see in the frame, but I’m very picky about the frame,” says Tom. “It’s rare for me to not include everything, but if something disrupts the flow, it gets edited out — like a branch or a rock that doesn’t work for the composition. I make those decisions before I start painting, and then I follow the composition.”
He based much of his compositional ideas on the teaching of Arthur Wesley Dow (1857–1922), an East Coast painter, teacher, and curator. Dow served as assistant curator of Japanese art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the art of Japan and China influenced his work.
“I rely on design, and many of my ideas about design come from Dow’s writing about composition,” Tom says. “I tend to like ovals and circles. I try to frame the image so your eye goes around the painting, and I put something in each corner to keep the viewer in the piece. I try to build a sense of space that will suck you in. Generally, I put less in the center of the composition and more around the edges, though that is not always how I design.”
Learn more about the artist at tomcolcord.com.
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