Composition is the art of arranging in a decorative manner the various elements at the painters disposal for the expression of his feeling”                                                                         Henri Matisse

“The Principles of Good Design”, are what we try and achieve in all of our artistic work.  Value being the most important.  It is the play of dark against light that makes a viewer look at a painting.  It is what immediately catches the eye.  It also is related to the element of color, and therefore it is the principle that helps set the mood or tone of the painting.  Then we strive for: harmony of color, rhythm to help us move around the painting, dominance of a shape or color, variety in lines and shapes, balance so one side isn’t heavier than the other, and in the end, total unity.  These principles are the same in abstract work as they are in realistic work.

Realistic painters usually use a reference photo unless they are painting out in the field.  Learning to edit your photo, or field of vision; to make a strong a composition, knowing what to delete and where to move elements in your reference, is important to the unity of the composition.  Gathering photos to work from is an important process.  The best photos don’t always make the best pictures. These are some photos I have gathered this week, on vacation, to work from.

Will I need to delete, move, or crop, part of these photos to make an interesting painting? What about the color?  Is the color in the photo the same as what I saw when I was facing my subject?

I received an email asking where I teach Pastel.  It is at the Artists’ Workshop, Inc., in New Smyrna Beach, FL.  We have a “Principle of Good Design in Pastel and Other Realistic Work” class starting on Monday September 26^th.  If you live in the area and are interested, please contact me at carolynaland@gmail.com .

If you have been following my blog you will know that I believe that the creative process is a very personal.  Therefore, I teach composition and techniques, and allow the students to create what they want to express, using subject matter they feel passionate about.  Remember…paint what you love.

“Nature is very rarely right, to such an extent even, that it might almost be said that nature is usually wrong; that is to say, the conditions of things that shall bring about the perfection of harmony worthy a picture is rare, and not common at all.”                                                                                  James Whistler

“Imagination makes you see all kinds of things”                                                                     Georgia O’Keeffe   

If you are doing the same thing now you were doing five years ago, you are probably stale!  In order to grow you need to try new things, challenge yourself.  Whether it is trying a new medium or trying a new subject, even a new palette would work. Change is important.  It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to stop doing what you enjoy doing, but the process of trying something new, makes you grow, and do what you do best, better.

When I try something new and go back to what I do best, I notice a difference. I am seeing it with new eyes, and from a new perspective.  If I enjoyed the challenge I gave myself, I may be able to incorporate it into what I normally do.  You tend to concentrate more on something new, and so, it is like opening a new part of your brain, it sheds light on places that you did not see before.

Mono-print “Beneath the Surface” #

In Blog 8: “Creative Overload”, I mentioned doing some mono- prints for a friend and not being ready.  I had to find a way to make the process mine. This was out of my comfort zone.  But there was an energy I found in doing them that I haven’t felt with any other work, and a movement in them that hooked me on the process.  There is a freedom and spontaneity in them that I have not been able to achieve in some of my other abstract work.  To see more of the series “Beneath the Surface”, you can go to:  http://www.monoprint-monotype.com

It has been a fun and interesting divergence.  I see so many possibilities now, on how I can incorporate this process, into my abstract and non-objective work. There are no limits to what we can do and try.  You just need to be adventurous.