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.

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.