Composition in Fine Painting
January 13, 2010
Composition, in fine painting, is the coordination of shapes, values, colors and edges into a harmonious whole. The point of composition is to pull the viewer in and lead him/her to the central idea of the picture. According to John F. Carlson, ” The central idea is surrounded by auxiliaries which always assist the eye in returning to it refreshed.” He called this the main line.
So the function of composition is to lead the eye through a progression of parts arranged according to their importance with respect to the whole. Subject matter is a secondary issue and not at all what the painting is about. In this regard the subject is similar to a theatrical prop or stage. It is the scenery over which the drama of composition plays out. To compose well, the artist must posses two fundamental skills:
- An awareness of where the eye travels when looking at paintings including his/her own.
- The ability to centralize interest.
The first of these two skills is the gateway to learning composition and perhaps painting itself. Think about it. If we become aware of how our eye travels through a painting we can then deduce why. Once we figure out why we can then learn to manipulate the process. It is a breakthrough in art appreciation when one first realizes that accomplished artists lead viewers intentionally. This is what elevates painting from mere picture making to fine art.
As I have said, this skill is mostly an awareness. It is a matter of paying attention to where our eye travels while looking at paintings. We must look at paintings to develop an acute sensitivity to the experience. As we absorb and digest the experience it will become a strength which serves our own creativity. It will help those of us who are painters detect weaknesses in our own work. It will help those of us who teach detect problems in student work. It will help those of us who collect choose wisely.
Consider the following field study:
Mangrove Study - Robert J. Simone
How does your eye travel through painting? The diagram below illustrates how I designed it to flow. For the most part it works. My eye enters through the grass on the bottom left assisted by the tire tracks on the right. It follows the shadow up the side of the bush on the right and is thrown over to the left by that dominant branch. Then it enters a counterclockwise loop returning on each revolution back to the large bush eventually picking up the distant purple land mass.
There are no specific or definite rules to give the beginner but next week we will look at some suggestions as we discuss the second skill on our list:
- The ability to centralize interest.
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My eye didn’t follow the same path as yours but the painting as a whole did a nice job of leading me through a nice pleasant flow of the piece ending with the purple land mass which gave the painting nice depth. It kind of reminds me of a landscape design that you might receive from a design company such as oh I don’t know maybe Bayscapes. Later Dude.
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