ANNOUNCEMENT:

I get many questions about what colors to use for painting shadows, so I decided to do a workshop where we address that issue with a study direct light sources and discerning what lights and shadows do to colors. In the demonstration part of the workshop, I'll be taking a light source from one subject and using it in another.  

With Spring on the horizon in our part of the world, Plein Air painters are already dusting off their gear and heading outdoors to paint. But whether you are a studio painter, plein air painter or both, your work is stronger when it includes intriguing visual paths.

Visual paths are ways of guiding a viewer's eye, of keeping it moving throughout a painting while staying within the work. There are a number of ways we can do this.  One method master artists have used for centuries is converging directional movement.  

This Converging Path causes our eyes to move back and forth between an area of emphasis and other areas of the painting, always leading us back to that area of emphasis. What's guiding our eyes to do this is the converging of straight directional movements.  

One of the most famous paintings where this is masterfully done is Leonardo's Last Supper.

Leonardo has guided our eyes to Jesus' face by using Converging Directional Lines in the architecture, the spread of Jesus' hands and suggested alignment of the tops of some of the disciples' heads. 

Look at this:

DAVID'S TAKE ON THE CONVERGING PATH

Over two hundred years later, David uses the Converging Path in this painting to place emphasis on the action rather than a person. I've indicated only the most obvious converging directional lines, but if you look closely, you will find more.

DURING OUR TIME

Using converging directional movement doesn't have to be delegated to historical paintings of the past. Today's painters have inherited the benefits from 19th and 20th century Art Movements that shattered old restrictions from previous eras. Consequently, we painters today can find new and more creative and freer ways to use those concepts that our historical masters worked worth.

Richard Schmid left us a trove of paintings that did just that.  Can you find how he has played with converging directional movement is this painting?

Light and Shadow: The one thing that lets our eyes see.
Visual Movement: What our eyes do when images are visible.
Seeing Beyond the Image: The possibilities beyond just describing what our eyes see.
Freeing the Artist Within (Curiosity): Finding our individual interpretation to what our eyes are seeing. 
Composing:  Finding ways to put together all that we discover.
Drawing:  Searching the potential of images.
The Craft:  Continually forging our skills to visually communicate what we continue to discover with our eyes, mind and soul.

And the eighth:

The Art:  The results when all the above are working together.