“On Form” by Scott Waddell – Review

I had the chance to study at Grand Central Academy (now Atelier) several years ago and took a class from Scott Waddell.  Scott is an excellent teacher.  He is thorough, approaching art instruction like science.  He provides ideas, examples and demos that bring clarity to complex principles.

I have reviewed a previous tutorial from Scott before with his release of The Portrait Course.

In his video On Form, Scott has taken his explanations even further. He has refined his instructions so that they are easier for beginners to understand. For more advanced students, the video solidifies ideas that might be intuitive from experience.

One aspect of his videos that I love are the diagrams that he creates to illustrate a principle.  They are very well thought out and drive home the ideas discussed.

Most painting videos show an artist working on a painting, talking while you watch them paint. Scott has taken the time to script his videos and explain what he is thinking about while he paints. He states the principles implemented and why.

What is included

Main Feature – On Form – 26 minutes
Appendix – 13 minutes
Demonstrations – closer look at process that include two 30 minute videos
PDF file with a transcript, illustrated glossary and guide

The Main Feature – In this video Scott covers:

• Imagined and Observed From – How we see form and imagine form
• Appearance of Form – How light interacts with form
• Material of Form – How texture impacts light upon a form
• Applying, Interpreting and Creating Form
• Evaluating Form – How to view your work in an accurate manner

Appendix – The Appendix video is broken up into small explanations of important concepts

• Geometric Forms – Scott explains how the understanding of primitive forms can be applied to more complex forms.
• Shadows – Scott’s explanation of shadow color is definitive and excellent
• Blending Form – How to see angles of form and contour and translate them into paint.
• Alternative Ways to Paint Form
• Color Mixing

Demonstrations – Scott includes two excellent videos that show him painting four faces or figures. These demos are well scripted with clear thoughts and explanations. This is what really sets his videos apart from most others. Rather than a stream of conscious approach, the information is well edited and refined ahead of time and then recorded over the video.

The PDF included has a well illustrated and written glossary of terms used in the different videos.  It also has a written transcript of the main feature.  This was very thoughtful of Scott because a LOT of information is presented and to be able to read it helps comprehension in addition to seeing and hearing.

The video is a very reasonable $39 dollars.  You pay and can then download it instantly.  I recommend it for the knowledge, but also to support Scott’s comprehensive and generous sharing.

The trailer for On Form:

I don’t know if we have an official rating system established yet for Muddy Colors, but I am starting a new one.  I give this video 5 out of 5 tubes of mud colored paint!