June 13, 2015
  


What do image 1 and image 2 below have in common?



Okay, let's try some clues.  What causes your eyes to move around this next image?  Answer this and you've got half of the answer to the first question.
Allure Graphic Design image from Pixabay

One more clue to give you the other half of the answer:  What causes your eyes to go straight to the cherub in this photo? 

Bruce Emmerling photo from Pixabay

In any painting workshop or class you take, you're most likely to hear the words gradation and contrast.  In Finding Freedom to Create, I call them Worker Generators.  As a worker, gradation's job is to give us transition, like a path leading us from one place to another.  Contrast's role is to give us clarity, to allow us to see the difference among things.  

But these two Worker Generators have more power when they work together, when one works the other.  What's fun is we see this going on every day even though we might not notice it.  This interaction is the heartbeat of aerial perspective--contrasts gradate from opposition to similarity.  

TIP:  The answer to our introductory question is "gradation of contrasts".  Aerial perspective is about how our eyes perceive things as they move into distance--how the atmospheric particles effect how we see those things.  Contrasts being gradated is what's happening. 

Happy painting,
Dianne

NEWS & UPDATES

___ Last week we launched video SERIES 5: CREATING AERIAL PERSPECTIVE.  The lessons in this series demonstrate four ways we can create with aerial perspective.  Lesson Two, Controlling Contrasts is now in the eStore.

___ This week's  YouTube Quick Tip gives you a simple method for setting up a preliminary still life drawing for painting.  If you'd like me to do a video Quick Tip on anything related to painting or composing, email your request HERE.  

___On August 21 & 22, I'll be giving a "Magic of Tertiaries" workshop at the Quinlan Visual Arts Center in Gainesville, Georgia, USA.  Go HERE for details.  

___ Our Facebook Forum now has 1100 members!  That's a jump from 1000 in just two weeks.  Join us, if you haven't already done so.
      One word to Forum users--To keep up with what's going on daily, click on the forum title--Composing and Drawing Tips--in your Groups list on the left of your Facebook page.

___Speaking of forums, a recent survey on Facebook told us that its group members are happy enough using it as our platform for sharing and feedback.  So, for the near future, we will do just that without creating another forum.   For those of you doing the video lessons, if you'd prefer a personal critique on your work, go to my website and send me a message from there.
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