The Simple Secret to Better Painting
Page 9
• Does your painting make use of the formula: Mostly, some and a bit?
Strong value contrasts direct the eye
This sketch is a great example of playing light against dark. The face is contrasted with a dark background, and the back of the head is contrasted against light. The strongest area of contrast is along the contour of the face, making it both the focal point and the center of interest.
Phil Ned Meuller 16" x 13" (41cm x 33cm) Conté crayon on paper
Mostly, some and a bit
Apply the Mostly, some and a bit formula to this portrait. The strong value pattern of this painting makes it irresistible. The pattern forms a pleasing configuration as a purely abstract design. Notice how the frames and the tie direct your eye to the picture’s center of interest, the subject’s smiling face.
Terry Tollefson Tom Browning 24" x 30" (61cm x 76cm) Oil on canvas
group portraits
The ONE RULE OF COMPOSITION: Never make any two intervals the same can readily be applied when there is more than one subject, as in a double or group portrait.
Double portrait
In a double portrait, it’s more interesting if the heads are not equally spaced or on the same level—both violations of our One Rule. The relative heights of the heads may imply prominence of one over another, so be mindful of that significance to your sitters.
Watch for the direction the sitters are looking. If they are looking in different directions, or if one or both are looking out away from the center, a distracting pull out of the picture can be created.
Group portrait
In group portraits, usually family groupings, keep in mind the principles of placement derived from the ONE RULE OF COMPOSITION. Do not allow the heads and faces to line up, be equidistant or form a boring configuration like a regular triangle or square. The heads should be at different levels and distances. Think of how boring it would be if all the heads were lined up equally on Mount Rushmore.
If you are painting a portrait of an entire family, make all the sitters look in more or less the same direction, or all of the them looking in toward the center. If one or more of the figures is looking out of the picture, it attracts the viewer’s attention out of the frame.
Boring
Don’t line up two (or more) faces at equal distances or along any central axis.
Better
In a double portrait, place one head at a different level and different angle for greater interest.
Boring
The heads are all at the same level. The lack of variety in their placement engenders a lack of interest.
Better
The heads are dynamically arranged with eye-pleasing variety.
multiple figures
To maximize eye-pleasing variation, groups of figures should be arranged according to the ONE RULE OF COMPOSITION: Never make any two intervals the same. By changing the size of the figures, and the spacing between them, you can create varying intervals that work to create interest in your painting.
Even spacing is boring
Equally spaced figures of the same height are boring and look unnatural.
Asymmetry suggests tension
The eye and mind group proximate figures together. The three figures on the left form a unit; the figure on the right is isolated. This arrangement is not only attractive to the eye, but interesting to the mind because it suggests some sort of social tension.
Varied spacing is better
Unequally spaced figures are more appealing and suggest more interesting social dynamics.
Scale variation creates depth
Varying the scale of figures creates spatial depth and increases interest. Note that all the figures share the same eye level, which coincides with the horizon line and eye level of the viewer.
Ground level placement is unexciting
Unequally spaced figures of different heights and eye levels is more interesting, but the ground level is parallel to the bottom edge.
Variety creates visual energy
When figures in a scene are at different heights, sizes, eye levels and distances, the visual energy is maximized.
figure interaction
When there is more than one figure in a painting, some kind of relationship is implied, and the viewer will attempt to determine what that relationship is, even if the relationship is one of mutual alienation. Where the figures are placed in the composition will give clues to that relationship. If they are placed close together, a stronger relationship is suggested; if apart, a weaker relationship is suggested. If the figures are symmetrically balanced or in the center, a stable relationship is implied.
Two figures facing each other will be interpreted very differently from two figures standing back to back. The viewer’s eye will track the paths of contact. If figures are in physical contact, the point of contact will be a center of interest. If the figures are in eye contact, the viewer will follow the link.
Make the connection visually
The figures are linked in a three-way connection. Looking over the shoulder is a voyeuristic vantage point that is hard for the viewer to resist.
Three Women at Lunch Arne Westermann 21" x 29" (53cm x 74cm) Watercolor on paper
Contact in the center of interest
This painting is about the interaction between two figures. The faces and arms—the points of contact—form the center of interest. These figures are linked visually and mentally by the viewer.
Iced Coffee Arne Westermann 29" x 21" (74cm x 53cm) Watercolor on paper
A figure in motion
Uneven spacing of the figures makes this scene look natural. The scene appears like a moment frozen in time and convincingly conveys the bustling activity of a real street corner. Notice that the figure shown in motion attracts your attention.
Struttin’ Tom Francesconi 19" x 27" (48cm x 69cm) Watercolor on paper
Placement implies relationship
In this penetrating painting by Arne Westerman, the two figures are close enough together to be considered as a single shape, and as such this shape is located off-center, in one of the sweet spots. In fact, the figures are almost uncomfortably off to the side. This discomfort is increased by the very lack of interaction between the two youths. They both appear to be absorbed in their own worlds, not in direct communication. They are perhaps physically close but psychologically isolated, and it is this implied relationship that is the source of the painting’s power.
Boardwalk, Santa Cruz Arne Westerman 19" x 29" (48cm x 73cm) Watercolor on paper
conclusion
The goal of this book is to make pictorial composition simple to understand, remember and apply. The principal concept of this book, expressed in the ONE RULE OF COMPOSITION: Never make any two intervals the same was derived from my experience teaching. I was frustrated by my attempts to describe how principles of design (unity, variety, harmony, contrast) were applied to the elements of composition (line, shape, color).
The theory was just too complicated. The fact that I could never remember all the principles and elements without a written list was a clue that it was not practical. The students were frustrated because the theories seemed better suited to analyzing what went wrong after the painting was finished than for avoiding mistakes while painting.
I no longer remember when I first summed up composition in one sentence, but the ONE RULE OF COMPOSITION has successfully simplified both teaching and learning how to make a better composition immediately. The Rule of Thirds and the Mostly, some and a bit formula are both corollaries of the ONE RULE OF COMPOSITION. My experience has shown me that these three concepts are the most useful to painters standing in front of a fresh canvas or watercolor sheet who want to get the composition right from the start.
I encourage you to post the ONE RULE OF COMPOSITION in a prominent position in your studio. Once you begin finding ways to apply it to all intervals—not just to spacing and dimension, but to balance, tones on a value scale, and colors on the co
lor wheel—you will discover how widely applicable the One RULE truly is.
If, after reading this book, all you remember is the seven words—Never make any two intervals the same or even just the Rule of Thirds or the Mostly, some and a bit formula—this book will have met its purpose and I will have achieved my goal.
Scene on West Fork Greg Albert 16" x 20" (41cm x 51cm) Acrylic on canvas