What is Massing?

[drawingbreath]

Harold Speed was truly one of the great ones. I forgot all about him--shame on me!

Also check out a book called "Other Worlds: How to Imagine, Paint and Create Epic Scenes of Fantasy" by Tom Kidd.

He has a chapter on the subject which is very interesting.

Darn it. Another book I "had" to add to my bookshelf. Checked Amazon and ordered already. At 208 pages that King Kong book looks like a great addition to my library.

[screenpainter]

Blimey SP your behind the times thought everyone had a Massing Board

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I didn't know I was massing anything. Apparently I am.

[J Witt]

Here is a great blog post about it http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/20...ney+Journey%29

[Mike Severoff]

I'm white as a fire hose. where I can read about it?

[Jkirstein]

Hi all,

I am going to throw out a somewhat different definition which may or not apply in the author's context. Massing can also refer to overlapping shapes to get one visual element. If twelve brown cows are standing together they create one mass instead of twelve smaller elements.

[Topdecker]

Hi all,

I am going to throw out a somewhat different definition which may or not apply in the author's context. Massing can also refer to overlapping shapes to get one visual element. If twelve brown cows are standing together they create one mass instead of twelve smaller elements.

This is also pretty much how I define it. I use massing in thumbnail sketches and frequently retain all of the masses in the final version. It could also be called extreme simplification, but I regard it as an important compositional tool.

Top

[suffolkgal]

“ARE YOU PAINTING LINES WHEN YOU SHOULD BE PAINTING MASSES…
Painting can be linear or it can be painterly. Oil paint because of its thickness , wetness and clumsiness works better in a painterly way. Gouache, blockprinting, etching and certain types of watercolour techniques are in the domain of linear. People who have spent a lot of time drawing often have trouble getting the feel of a painterly approach. They start their paintings with a carefully outlined drawing sometimes even pencil or chalk and then methodically paint in between the lines. In the end their painting look like what they are :coloured drawings. If you see external reality as a collection of outer edges to be copied, the painting will look flat.The painterly approach is to see paintings as a series of near and far volumes. Instead of expressing them with outlines, express them with blobs smears, dribbles and splotches of paint. Your painting should begin with a series of these spots and as it progresses…”

Lightbulb moment here! Further investigation required

Ali

[Peony]

Here is a great blog post about it

I came here to post the exact same thing.

His blog is fantastic, as he does a fantastic job of elegantly explaining a lot of concepts. Light, atmosphere, color.. you name it.
Easily one of my favorite blogs.