The Visual Elements: Edge Awareness

The Fox and the Crow by Antonio Frasconi

It's wonderful to see the artist here responding to the edge of the format; especially the fox's legs. Rather than let the legs run off the page (poor design) he bends them to fit in the rectangle. Also notice how he does this with the tail, and uses the tail in the design as it links up visually with the line of the ear. Also see how he makes the negative spaces so alive, they are part of the energy of the whole piece.

The Visual Elements

Try looking at a painting as only a series of choices. The visual elements are: line, shape, color, value,  and texture.When you think about it this way, it helps to highlight why and how the painting looks the way it does. Often in order to express something about color, an artist has to let go of line, or detail. In order to focus on shape, an artist may choose to avoid too much texture.  What the artist chooses is what you will see. Often a work reveals itself by what it is not.  For those wishing to improve their drawing skills, drop color entirely.

Methods of composing

North Face by Jennifer Wiggs.
gouache on paper, 17x20".c2010

Dutch Interior by Joan Miro

One method of achieving more interesting compositions is to cut a larger piece down; cut out the parts that are dull, too busy or just bad and then start with the fragment. A small area of a piece could be the start of your next painting or it could just BE the painting.This painting is from a series where 'white' (in this case the white of the page) is the central  focus. This is a fragment from the original, where half was cut out and pitched. We grow accustomed to norms of composing and I enjoy deliberately challenging those conventions.Using purple in a landscape is one way; moving horizon lines around is another. Do things the wrong way and see what happens.

red command

Red Command, gouache, 10 x14". c2009

Paul Nash

This painting has an element of mystery. It's from a series I'm working on about the color white. From working in watercolor I learned the practice of "saving the whites" and that has helped me. I'm creating and destroying the white simultaneously. I like the letter forms in a landscape format.This merging of abstract, intuitive elements and more visual elements can be seen in many artist's work, such as Paul Nash.