Composition is the backbone that supports the painting, the scaffolding that allows the painting to grow and blossom, and the glue that holds all the extra bits and pieces together, resulting in a stable, balanced, and engaging piece of artwork.
In a successful composition, the painting feels unified and whole, everything goes together. As the creator, you have many choices – build a sound structure, lead with a well-placed focal point, and determine the hierarchy of all the marks, colours, and elements of your work. And finally, use your compositional tools to guide viewers effectively into and around your painting – they will interpret according to their own experience, but your role is to guide them as they travel through your painting.
In this module we will meet 4 artists who use composition very effectively – they are confident with the basic theory, but they also have their own ways of applying and stretching the theory to bring uniqueness to their own work.
The hands-on exercises will reinforce the basic compositional “rules” but they will take you much further and encourage you to dig deep and expand your knowledge of composition – techniques that will help you to bring energy and emotion to your work and ensure that your viewer will have a powerful experience.
Chapter 1: Horizons and Quiet Space
Explore the power of the horizon line, understand how to divide your surface effectively, and take advantage of the impact of quiet space.
Chapter 2: Freeform Shapes and Filling the Frame
Find and identify successful compositions, and then apply them to your paintings. This chapter also explores what role the shape of your canvas plays.
Chapter 3: Cantilever and Balance
This chapter looks at story-telling and the tools and techniques that help to energize, bring movement, and clarify your story. We all have stories to tell, let’s bring them to life.
Chapter 4: Hierarchy in Abstracts
This chapter looks at how hierarchy and focal points help you to create non-objective/abstract paintings.