| When I paint, I am not attempting to capture | | | | |
| the likeness of a landscape or figure. My | | | | Getting the composition right, or balancing |
| subject is the painting itself. In spite of | | | | the elements of color, line and shape while |
| this, some viewers immediately try to pin | | | | maintaining a dynamic tension, is a major |
| down an image they can name in my art. Not | | | | preoccupation of the painter. If you add a |
| that seeing things in abstract paintings is a | | | | blue brushstroke to the bottom left-hand |
| crime, even if the artist didn't put them | | | | corner, for example, you may have to change |
| there. But you miss an opportunity to see | | | | something in the top right-hand corner |
| more if you spend all your energy trying to | | | | because of it. You can't concentrate on one |
| turn the painting into something you can | | | | section at a time, ignoring the rest of the |
| name, like a figure or flower or landscape. | | | | canvas, and expect to end up with a |
| | | | composition that works. |
| What do you actually see when you look at the | | | | |
| painting? Color, shape, line and texture are | | | | Energy is the life force that is present in |
| the physical elements that combine to make up | | | | all good art. This is not something that is |
| the image. A selection of dark, heavy shapes | | | | easily defined, but it is the opposite state |
| may impress you as somber; light, airy images | | | | of static flatness. It is this energy that |
| as mystical; balanced, and temperate forms as | | | | makes a painting speak to you, and makes an |
| peaceful. Shape, color and form have meaning | | | | artist's work original and identifiable as |
| in and of themselves. We react emotionally to | | | | the work of that artist. Energy is created |
| these elements even if they create no | | | | out of the artist's materials and tools, but |
| recognizable object for us to hang onto. | | | | the end is more than the means in the same |
| Thus, a painting of ragged, angular forms in | | | | sense that a musical composition is so much |
| deep reds will evoke an entirely different | | | | more than a collection of notes. |
| feeling from one in soft curves of yellow and | | | | |
| white. | | | | The next time you look at an abstract or |
| | | | "modern" painting, don't begin by searching |
| The handling of space, or the illusion of | | | | for some identifiable object from your world. |
| space, is another element in the artist's | | | | Instead, try to enter the world the artist |
| toolbox. Are you drawn into a world of | | | | created. Relax and let your eye leisurely |
| three-dimensional space stretching beyond the | | | | wander over the painting's surface. Let your |
| framework of the painting, as you might be in | | | | heart and mind react to its colors, shapes, |
| a landscape? Or are you kept visually taut, | | | | and textures. Let yourself be drawn into the |
| as a skater on a pond, skimming across a | | | | illusion of its spaces, the action of its |
| two-dimensional surface? The impression of | | | | lines, and the mood of its atmosphere. |
| depth, perspective, airiness, solidity, and | | | | |
| other spatial relations are created and | | | | Step back and look at the painting from a |
| controlled by the artist. | | | | distance. What is its impact as you approach |
| | | | it? |
| The overall composition or design of a | | | | |
| painting is what guides the viewer's eye. | | | | Move up close and explore the intricacies of |
| Have you ever looked at a painting or | | | | brushstrokes, paint thicknesses and |
| photograph and felt it was off balance? One | | | | compositional details. See how the parts are |
| of the big differences between amateur | | | | woven together to form the whole. |
| snapshots and professional photographs is the | | | | |
| quality of the composition. In an amateur | | | | Give the painting time. No artwork can be |
| photo, perhaps all the action is centered on | | | | understood and appreciated in a ten second |
| the left, with nothing but empty space on the | | | | glance. Good art should grow on you, becoming |
| right. The lopsidedness gives you a sense of | | | | more interesting and more enjoyable to look |
| unease. (Of course an artist may use this | | | | at as you live with it. |
| unease deliberately as well.) | | | | |
| | | | You may still see things in abstract |
| Composition is one of the fundamental tools | | | | paintings, finding birds and trees and |
| an art student is taught. The goal is to have | | | | animals hidden in the forms. This is as |
| a balance of visual elements without making | | | | natural as turning clouds into recognizable |
| the weight so balanced that the art becomes | | | | shapes. But by opening your eyes to the |
| boring. If everything on the left is exactly | | | | possibilities of the world the artist |
| equal to the right, and the top to the | | | | created, you may see more than you ever |
| bottom, you may have balance, but you lose | | | | expected to see in abstract art. |
| interest. | | | | |