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 | | Composing and Drawing Tip of the Week. |
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To be suddenly awakened out of a sound sleep is unsettling. In the same way, a painting that contains too many contrasting elements can feel like an assault on our senses. But a painting can translate vibrant life in all of it's diversity without visually invading the viewer. One method for achieving this is gradation.Arguably the most familiar of all the principles, gradation is a gradual transition between opposites. Light changes slowly to dark, large continuously becomes small, one color gently unfolds into another. Any visual element-whether size, shape, direction, line, value, hue, intensity, temperature or texture-can be gradated just as it can be contrasted.Most of us probably learned in our first drawing class that we use value gradation to make an image appear three-dimensional, but this principle is also a useful tool for unifying a painting. An underlying value gradation ties together things that would otherwise compete.In his painting, "Growing Tall," Colin Page has used this strategy, unifying an otherwise unwieldy subject.
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| | Colin Page "Growing Tall" Oil on Canvas |
There's a lot of activity here-- titillating flecks of light, rapid directional contrasts, quick gestures-but if you squint your eyes at Page's painting and concentrate on the darks and lights, you'll discover an underlying gradation in value.This use of gradation is also a value pattern. Not only can it be used to quiet an otherwise noisy scene, it can be used to give a visual path to a scene that has none. In this week's video lesson, I show you how. (I hope you enjoyed this excerpt of my Compose Blog from three years ago. Images used with permission of Colin Page, 2012.)
Happy painting,
Dianne
NEWS & UPDATES
___In this week's video lesson, we explore how a background of gradation can give a visual path to a subject where no readable value pattern exists.
___ This week's Quick Tip shows how to put onto stretcher bars a painting done on sheet canvas.
___ 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.
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