• Special message: Our re-chat Sunday (tomorrow) is on GO! The equipment that failed has been replaced and we are now in good shape to keep moving forward. I hope you can join us at 2 PM Eastern, September 24!
A tool is something you use to get a result. A rule is a requirement you have to meet. A tool can give you freedom to create. A rule can restrict your creativity. Any master craftsperson wants to know what tools are available and what each can do. Not every tool will do every job, but every tool does its job well when the craftsperson knows how to use it well. Just like the craftsperson's tools, some composing tools work in pairs. Selecting and Placing are two tools that do just that. For that set, we learn skills for selecting images and
skills for placing images in our compositions. Our choices are more flexible when we are painting from life, however these days many painters work from photos. But unless the artist takes the photo, its composition might have visual issues. Add to that nature does not always give us a
masterful composition. So learning how to select (take what you need, leave out the rest) and place (choose where it goes and at what size) gives more creative options than just copying the photo as
is. To do justice to the Selecting & Placing tools would require a book, but this is just to get you started thinking in the right direction. Let's play with this Pixabay photo from of cows in a pasture. It's not very interesting, is it? But it's got potential. To play with making it stronger, we might
begin by selecting that frontal cow and deleting those in the distance. (Photo below:) We can add back in as we go along, but only what we will need. We can play with the placement by changing the cow's size and/or its location and/or the direction in which it is turned. In the next two photos, I've changed its size in the top one, and in the bottom one, both its size and
location. -After we select, the way we do the placing determines balance as well as how the eyes travel throughout the piece-the visual path. Placing the cow that close to the edge and so
close to the front, the piece becomes out of balance. The eye does circle inward within the space but there is nothing of the left to keep it within the pictorial space. Let's make another selection from the original photo and add a second cow on the left. We'll place it so that it pulls weight on that side and position it so that it is turned towards the existing cow in order to
stop the eye and bring it back into the pictorial space. Now let's play with size and placement of this added cow. This change does equalize the balance, but calls equal attention to both cows. The composition will be stronger if the initial attention (center of interest) is one cow or the other. Let's switch them and change the size of the new
cow. They are more balanced now, but each is pulling the eye off the edges. Another adjustment is needed. By flipping both images, making the added cow smaller and moving it towards the middle, the viewer's attention comes back in, but the balance is off again. It tilts too much to the left. Somewhat enlarging the cow on the right and shifting it back closer to the edge now balances it again, and now each cow's orientation keeps the viewer's eye moving around the images within the pictorial space. And it feels more
balanced. These are just major ways we can work with Selecting and Placing, but they are very important for composing. You can see now why using those photo tracing machines limit your freedom to compose. Enjoy a spectacular weekend!
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Happy Painting,
Dianne
dianne@diannemize.com
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During my Language of Painting series, I explained the role of our visual elements. If you'd like to review those roles to better understand the behavior of elements, here are the links to each of those
discussions: Color --Value -- Shape -- Texture -- Size -- Line and Direction
You can access the archive of all my newsletters (as well as the Quick Tips and other stuff) at any time by going HERE.
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