In a previous post, I listed a few of the basic items necessary for a good plein air drawing field kit. If you missed it or would like a review, you can read the post here.
One of the items I mentioned was something called a view finder. Today, I’d like to talk a little bit more about that and share some tips for using one.
NOTE:
The focus of this post is working outside, but knowing how to use a view finder can help you with still life subjects as well and portraits of all kinds.
Why View Finders can be Helpful
Quite simply, you need a view finder of some kind to focus your eye and attention. When you’re working outside, the whole world is at your feet. Everywhere you look, there’s something to draw or paint. The possibilities can be overwhelming!
Here’s one of my favorite views of the Flint Hills of Kansas. The first time I ever saw this country, it was a bitter cold day in December. A skiff of snow dusted brown hills, yet it called to me as no other landscape ever had.
This particular photo was taken in October and everything about it calls to be drawn. It captures a small portion of that panoramic landscape. A very small portion.
And yet there’s a lot of information here. Enough to overwhelm a beginning plein air artist like me.
Here’s a detail shot of the same image. Maybe not the most interesting possible composition, but you can see how much less overwhelming it is. With a digital camera or even a phone, you can snap the wide view as shown above, then take as many close up views as you like until you find the composition you like best.
How to Use a View Finder
If your view finder is a phone or camera, you probably already know how to use it.
But there are other types of view finders. I carry a small pre-cut mat with a dark side and a light side. I’m using a 5×7 mat because it’s large enough to show a nice sized view while being easy to carry and use. It’s also a standard size that easily translates into larger sized drawings with the same proportions.
Here’s how I use it to find good compositions in a world of possibilities.
This is the Warkentin House, local historical location and a museum. There’s a lot to like about this house. A lot to draw.
Because this is a shady scene full of shadow and middle values, I used the white side of my view finder. I held it at arm’s length and viewed different parts of the scene by panning to the right, then the left. Here’s one possible vertical composition.
I then repeated the process with the view finder held horizontally.
Even though I was using a small view finder (5×7), it was a bit too large to really isolate a single subject at such a close distance. This view finder works better in the wide open spaces.
If you’re thinking about drawing something close, consider using a smaller view finder. 4×6 or even 3×5 would be good sizes for isolating single subjects in a scene that’s this close.
You can also isolate smaller subjects by framing them with your hands or by using mat corners or simply using two pencils to create a “corner”. I like a pre-cut mat because it’s a single tool that’s light-weight, and very easy to use and carry.
There are a Couple of Ways to Use a View Finder
View finders are handy tools that can save a lot of time in finding the best composition possible for whatever you want to draw.
Of course, there are other tools. For example, I tend to snap as many images of every scene as I think I will need. Then I use a photo editor as a view finder to isolate the best composition. That’s a good system, but it often results in lots of image I cannot use and very few that I can. It’s fair more efficient to take more time to frame the scenes with the camera first. Find good compositions, and then snap as many pictures as possible. If only I could remember that when I’m taking pictures!
The point is to find a method that works for you, that’s easy to use, and that consistently gives you good, useful images.
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