Transitions soften oppositions

Cardinal
colored pencil on paper
5 in x 7in
copyright 2013 Rose Welty

This post follows on from Opposition: it's everywhere you look. I'm currently reading through Dow's book on composition and thought I'd share what I am learning.

Defined by Dow, Transition is when "opposition is softened and an effect of unity and completeness produced."

There is just about some transition in the cardinal piece above, that slanting branch tries to unify the branch the bird is on and the edge of the image. This drawing went out a few weeks ago to my newsletter subscribers and there will be another newsletter coming out this week. Don't forget to sign up.

Opposition - its everywhere you look

By opposition here, I mean the design principle of opposition. As Arthur Dow put it...

"Opposition - two lines meeting form a simple and severe harmony."

The sketch is part of my neighbor's tree in the late afternoon sun, when it is absolutely stunning - even as a wee bitty tree bare in its winter wardrobe. Done with my Pentel pocket brush pen.

Shaping Your Values

Yesterday I showed the importance of values and value differentiation. Why is that and how do you make your value shapes better?

Why Values are Important:
"The value pattern is the structure that holds a painting together and the details merely entertain." Carl Purcell, Painting with Your Artist's Brain, p. 109.

• The reason that values are so important is because the way that our eyes register what they see. Your eyes see the value patterns (or shapes of the different areas of value) first, then your brain decides what it is that you see.
• Maggie Steifvater's recent portrait, Billy and Bertie, demonstrates this idea. As you see she's got funky colors all over the place, colors that those dogs definitely don't wear - but why does the painting work? It works because the values are right. The color in this case (i.e. the detail) is only there to entertain and Maggie is an excellent entertainer!

How do make your value shapes better: (this is, of course, relative, but Purcell has some good ideas)

• extend your dark shapes to hit edges of the piece
• put your dark and light shapes next to each other at the focal point
• keep your light areas around the focal point
  

These images are some more practice with a brush and ink.

Valuing Your Values

Yesterday I mentioned that the values in your painting are important. Here's an example of mine that shows you just that.

The drawing with little value variation:
The drawing with values heightened:


The first one is very accurate, the second is accurate and has panache. That's the difference that values can make. All that changed was that I darkened certain areas in the second one.

Purcell offers a few ideas to help you see values more:

• when looking at a possible subject, don't describe the objects, describe the values (e.g. I like those dark vertical shapes against that light patch.)
• go through a stack of photos, paint the darkest shapes, add some water and paint the midtone shapes, then move on to the next photo - the idea being to train yourself to see the value shapes first
  

Empowering the Director

"You are the director, everything out there wants a part in your visual production. Use only the tools that best serve the needs of the painting. Then direct them to do what you want them to do." --Carl Purcell, Painting with Your Artist's Brain, p.123

Up until recently my art development has focused on rendering, improving accuracy, and exploring media. This book really addresses where I need to go next: composing a beautiful painting, offering more than a photograph, and creating a unique view.

To some degree, I edit what I see when I create a piece. I may simplify a complicated background, leave out some trees, etc. But this book pushes the reader a little farther. He encourages you to change the trees to a different type, put the rocks in a different place, change the shape of things to make a better composition, change the colors that you see for effect, etc.

Many of us begin with high hopes of doing that instinctively, but the beginner often makes mistakes in what they change and then loses the nerve to change things - at least this beginner did. But now, with more experience in looking at shapes and values, I feel like I might have a better grasp on how to direct the elements. Tomorrow I'll show you the difference that value makes to your drawing.

The image above is a WIP on my PIF project, a portrait of one of my favorite bloggers. Putting it on the monitor really does help you see the areas that need working on!

Gurney on Composition

James Gurney (author of the fabulous Dinotopia, among many talents) has a great post today about composition and the path that your eyes take on a painting. Good information to throw into the mix for the composition project.

Balance in Composition - the technicals

Poore's first chapter is on "the importance of balance." And yes, the chapter reads as dry as the title. It is essentially a great long list of types of balance found in art, many with examples.

Balance is one of those slippery terms, the ones that you think you understand, intuitively, and then all of a sudden mid-conversation, you aren't sure what anyone is talking about! (Perhaps this only happens to me, perhaps as a result of being married to philosopher! :D)

Anyway, the following quote helped me to really understand what balance Poore was talking about:

"In the survey of a picture, the eye naturally shifts from the focus of interest, which may be on one side, to the other side of the canvas. If something is there to receive it, the balance which the eye seeks is gratified."

He later adds that if the "receiving something" creates too strong an interest you've created "divided interest" instead of balance!

The image above is copied from "Drawing the Human Head by Louise Gordon", it's a part of my month-long pursuit of learning the structure of the head.

Composition Project: Resources

Here's a start on the list of the resources I hope to be pulling from for my research in January and February on composition. (A few are still on the wish list! :-)

Books

• Composition in Art by Henry Rankin Poore (an early edition of this book)
• Painting with your Artist's Brain by Carl Purcell
  
• Composition: Understanding Line, Notan, and Color by Arthur Wesley Dow
• The Simple Secret to Better Painting by Greg Albert
  

Web Articles

• 9 Steps to Creating Better Compositions, Empty Easel
• Comparision of Technical Composition Rules
• History of Composition

Image above was a fun little sketch - playing with colored inks! We're still in "holiday break" mode around here, so the posting will be as and when - there is sketching going on though. :-)