September 26, 2015
  


A path for a painter is like a melody line or chord progression for a composer. It's our way of getting the viewers' attention then guiding their eyes to the areas where we want them to travel.   We use a variety of methods to achieve this.  Look at this painting by  Jennifer McChristian.  Where do your eyes first go?


The first thing I see is two people walking toward us.  After that I notice the other two people, cars, and then the overall scene. As an afterthought, my eye goes to the red sign in the upper left of the painting then to the rear of a truck exiting the scene.  The sign and truck bring my eyes back to the figures.  
That's the visual path.



Experiencing this work is like feeling a chord progression pulling us from one area to another before we come back to the major key.  To keep the chord moving, the artist uses temperature contrast (the warm colors used in the building, figures and truck within the cooler colors of the buildings, street and sky), isolation (the dark figures within a light space), and one-point perspective (angles of the street and buildings vanishing to a single point).

That's better than a bagel with cream cheese and jam.

(I hope you enjoyed this reprint of my Compose Blog from four years ago.  Images used with permission of Jennifer McChristian, 2011.)
 
Happy painting,
Dianne

NEWS & UPDATES
___In this week's video tutorial , I pull together the concepts from Lessons 1. 2. & 3 of Series 8, pointing out throughout the demo study the role values are playing.

___ This week's Quick Tip is for our watercolor painters.  Because our video tutorials focus on composing principles, oil works as a better medium for teaching them.  From time to time, I will do Quick Tips for watercolor painters to show my love for that medium, too.


  
___ Our Facebook Forum continues to grow and grow and grow!  Join us, if you haven't already done so. You can get feedback on your Video Lessons or just lurk in the background and enjoy my conversation with others doing the lessons.

____Here's a preview our video lessons for October, Series 9: Exploring Value Patterns.



     
My Books
           
                                 

I invite you to forward this Tip to anybody you think might enjoy it.

Join our Facebook forum HERE.
 Compose Blog                 Painting Blog