Janie Gildow on COMPOSITION
CCP e-Newsletter June 10, 2008
Cold chills. Sweaty palms. Plummeting vital signs. Brain shut-down. Don’t worry; it’s just what happens when someone mentions the dreaded word: “composition.”
I’ve taught composition for a great many years and it really isn’t scary at all. Once you see how it works, you’ll find out that it’s simple, straightforward, and so very easy. All it takes is for someone to explain it in easy-to-understand terms with picture illustrations and you’ll be proficient in no time.
And as you read on, keep this in mind: composition is extremely important and your knowledge of it absolutely vital. All the technique in the world won’t make up for bad composition.
Design Elements - the tools of the artist. First of all, if you’re going to do any kind of job, you need the proper tools. Just as the carpenter uses saw, hammer, and nails; as an artist, your “tools” are the design Elements you employ and manipulate in order to create a work of art.
Line - the handwriting (or mark) of the artist.
Shape - the area within a closed line or edge.
Space - the area that gives the eye a rest and emphasizes active areas.
Texture - a dimensional quality that can be actual or implied.
Value/Contrast - value: the range of nuances from light to dark.
– contrast: the difference between light and dark.
Color – the frosting on the cake that adds depth, interest, and enrichment, and is highly personal for each artist.
Good composition consists of an orderly and purposeful arrangement of the Design Elements.
Your Goal: Unity and Oneness
The aim or goal of composition is to develop a piece of art that exhibits planning and forethought. It should look finished. Its elements need to relate to one another in order to create a feeling of oneness of unity. And unity is what gives the work a sense of rightness. Correct implementation of the Design Principles (the laws that govern the use of the tools or Elements) generates good strong composition.
That said, let-s get right to the nitty gritties…
From Behind the Camera – Workshop Expectations
e-Newsletter: 060308
The expectations students bring to a workshop greatly influence the benefits they gain from an instructor. Students may overlook details of the process if they are intent on copying a teacher’s painting. A useful goal for a student is to try on a teacher’s technique and thought process, then permit the things that don’t suit the student to fall away. Here are a couple of examples.
Arleta Pech teaches how to build complex color using primary color glazes. This permits incredible control but is rather time consuming. I don’t have the patience to use her approach for an entire painting, but I find it handy when working in a smaller area that calls for a specific color. Her color building technique permits me to sneak up on my goal, and it’s perfect for days when I don’t feel confident with my painting and want a slower approach.
Mark Mehaffey’s mouth atomizer workshop addresses color bounce, the process in which a painter can create a relationship between two sides of a painting by echoing color. His demonstration made the importance of this concept clear to me. I use color bounce all the time when problem solving in my own work. I use a mouth atomizer only occasionally, but color bounce is a mainstay.
Virginia Cobb’s workshop focuses on acrylic abstract painting. I am a realistic transparent watercolorist, but I learned a lot from her philosophical approach to painting. We’ve all hit the wall of frustration and been ready to burn our paintings. Virginia teaches us to recognize this frustration as the perfect time to access new horizons and find new solutions to problems that would have previously stopped us in our tracks.
I don’t paint like any of the artists above, but I paint better because of all of them.
- Lynn –
CAROLINE JASPER’S COLOR TIP: Value is worth a lot!
e060308
-by Caroline Jasper
Value is a significant color characteristic. Contrasts between darks and lights are key to visual impact. Through comparison of such differences our brains perceive objects and determine depth. Lighter things stand out against dark backgrounds. Dark ones show up better against light. Strong darks and lights together read as close; lack of value contrast reads as distant. Working strictly in black and white, without the distraction of color, it is easier to represent form and lighting. Since we do not live in a black and white world, painters must become aware of value differences among colors both in the subject and on the palette. Painting value studies prior to working in color helps to identify important darks and lights throughout a color reference. Test your color-value acuity. Take a black and white digital shot of your color work or convert a color image to grayscale in a computer photo application. If the image holds up well in black and white, it will present boldly in color.
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