Nobody enjoys being bored, but sometimes just by repeating too many of the same size intervals, we make boring things happen in our paintings.
WHAT ARE INTERVALS IN PAINTING?
In music an interval is the time lapse between two notes. Collected together in a pattern, those intervals create a specific rhythm. Intervals in painting are spaces' distance between edges--you might even say a space
lapse. They, too, can contribute to the painting's rhythm, but let's focus on recognizing them rather roles they can play.
Intervals appear in three specific relationships:
1. Distances between a shape’s edge and the outer edge of a painting
2. Distances between shapes' edges inside the painting
3. Distances between edges within a shape itself.
SPACE BETWEEN A SHAPE'S EDGE AND THE OUTER EDGE OF A PAINTING
Here are two examples that show this one clearly. On the right, a portrait by Pat Weaver and on the left a painting by Albrecht Durer. I transformed both into positive/negative notans so you can clearly see the variations
of the distance between the outer edge of the image and the edge of each piece.
SPACE BETWEEN SHAPES INSIDE A PAINTING
Compare these two versions of a woods' scene. Notice on the left how evenly the trees are spaced from edge to edge of each tree, then look at the same scene on the right with different sized intervals between the
trees. Can you see that the one on the right is more interesting to look at?
SPACE BETWEEN EDGES WITHIN A SHAPE
Here I've selected three intervals inside the image to illustrate how we look for them. Varying intervals is especially important in both animal and people portraits. The variation of the intervals begins with how you
pose the subject. A slightly turned view rather than one head-on gives more interesting intervals within the image.
In this little oil painting entitled Lounge Act by Karin Jurick, we can clearly see all three types of intervals. Scan the painting: look first for the distances between edges of the image against edges of
the painting, then look for variations of interval sizes within the shapes of the image itself. Then check out the interval sizes among all the shapes within the entire painting.
Keep in mind that it's the size relationship--the distance--between edges that create our intervals. If we pay attention to those, we can avoid unintentionally creating a boring painting--at least where intervals
are concerned.
Have yourselves a lovely weekend!
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