Composition

So. I took an advanced oil painting workshop this month. It was awesome. The instructor is a phenomenal painter & teacher. I didn't really learn that much, but just hearing what I already knew repeated was great for me, & being surrounded by other enthusiastic artists was very inspiring. As we were painting, in the studio & en plein air, we talked a lot about composition, & how a good composition is the no.1 factor in having a good painting. Many people can paint, but you have to be able to draw, to truly paint. Below are several examples of composition. I've mentioned Edgar Payne before; he's so good— here are some diagrams taken from his book: 

sketchy example ^^ 

think about it.

 The foundation for painting:

1. Composition
2. Value light vs. dark
3. Underling drawing 
4. Color scheme 
5. Texture                  

      ⬇

Have a theme, make a statement. Create a story & setting—   

    start⤵ 

Development ⇢

buildup ☟ 

           characters

<main event>  

                     ↳ find an exit for viewer↴   loop hole 

                                    that revolves back to start⤴ 

"Christina's World" by Andrew Wyeth. This is an excellent triangle 
formation can be seen here. With your finger, cover up one of 
the houses. See how instantly the composition becomes uninteresting? 

"Beartooths Near Red Lodge" a quick painting by (me) This composition I'd consider a Circle. Your eye follows the yellow grass path, up the leaves of the tree on the right, down the top of the mountains, around the edge of the dark clump of trees (left side) back to the foreground.

Balanced scales. "The Last Supper" Leonardo Devinci starts to 

combine the Eastern style of a central object that has symmetrical balanced formality, with the gothic Western style of vertical lines throughout the 

composition, adding dimension, or a false feeling of depth. 

Radiating lines; offset & simplistic. Remember the rule of thirds.
Something off set is more pleasing to the eye, then something dead center. 

Radiating lines. Van Gogh sure must have wanted us to really look
 at those woman! See how everything is pointing towards them?

Check out my pinboard of ART to see art I like! 

Watercolor by John Singer Sargent. This composition could be considered a tunnel. The pathway of water draws the viewer further up & further in.  

S or Compound Curve. Oil by Bob Rohm. See how your eye lazily
moves back & forth across the canvas. 


Balanced Scales. Everything symmetrical & radiating outwards from the center.This reminds me of child's drawing of a sunshine. A sunshine drawing is so simple, yet anyone who saw it could tell you exactly what it is. The same thing goes for stick figures. People don't look like that. But whenever a child draws a bowling ball circle for a head, & adds a few straight lines coming out from out; immediately the viewer knows it's a person. A child sees the reality beyond surface or fact. When you really begin to look at simple objects, you see how everything is simultaneously relative & abstract at the same time. This paragraph probably lost you, didn't it? (hehe.)   

On Edgar Alwin Payne

Payne was an American Western landscape painter. He grew up in the Southwest, & left home at the age of 14. He traveled all over the States, painting portraits, signs, murals, & local theatre stage sets, to pay his way. Payne was self-taught after attending (& disliking) only two weeks of the Art Institute of Chicago. He made it to California in 1909 & met commercial artist Elsie Palmer (1884-1971) - they were wed three years later. Their daughter Evelyn was born in 1914. Later, Payne (with his wife & daughter) painted his way through Canada, & then the trio spent two years (1922-1924) touring & painting Europe. He had a studio setup in Paris. Sometimes their trips would be on horseback or hiking through the backcountry, looking for undisturbed places of raw, & rare beauty, to paint, sometimes for weeks. After traveling the world, Payne settled for the wild western parts of America. He spent 4 months painting landscapes of Canyon de Chelly in Arizona. Pretty intense. Payne was a member of 10 art associations. A total of 17 galleries can boast of having his work to display.

Edgar Alwin Payne 1883- 1947 (Paris)

Payne was a man who loved the outdoors, & spent most of his life painting, or thinking about painting, landscapes. His drawings were records of his thoughts, his notes to himself. His paintings reflect an amazing perspective, selection talent, & premeditation.

In 1941 he wrote "Composition of Outdoor Painting" 
-A great book on painting techniques, color, repetition, rhythm, composition, scale & value. (If ya ever see it- buy it!)  I got my copy of the book from Amazon, for about $50. It is worth every penny. 

Here are some of his works— 

Sunset, Canyon De Chelly, 1916

Sentinels of the Coast, Monterey. c.  Oil on Canvas

Eternal Surge, c. 1920 Oil on Canvas

Canyon Mission Viejo, c. 19?? Oil on Canvas

Sardine Boats, c. 1923. Oil on Canvas.  

Sierra Trail, c. 19 Oil on Canvas 

Rendezvous Santa Cruz Island, c. 1915 Oil on Canvas

Canyon de Chelly Oil on board

Shadow Slope Oil on Canvas 36” x 46”

Sierra Divide, 1921. Oil on Canvas

Trees on a California Hillside, c.  Oil on Canvas 

California Mountain, High Sierras
Oil on panel 17"x21

Whenever I go out landscape painting, I try to paint in the style of this quicker work, imaged directly above. Using thick paint, & a large brush…  Really laying each stroke on, & letting it do the work for you. Using the brush to 'draw', & then you can see the reflected light off of each angular stroke. I really like this picture. The mass shapes of the trees. It's so directional. You can really feel the depth & the height of those hills too. 

—Payne is one of my favorite artists—  

Examples of compositions, taken from his book.
 (Click & view in new window for larger size.)

No matter what we do, or where we go, isn't it always awesome to look back &  say- I was out there, I was alive, I did that. God made all of us exactly like we are, with talents, & weaknesses. Embrace your gifts, create a memory, do something special. Enjoy life. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a painting is worth a lot more. Generations will reap what we sew; we can pass on a curse or a blessing to those we will never know. (Deut. 11:26-28) Let's leave a history that generations to come will be proud of!

-GB