I got so busy writing other posts I sort of forgot I hadn’t finished up with this topic yet! Ooops! As I mentioned in my last composition post, these final images include one I really like, a couple that are “okay” and one, well, “meh!” The last three may get some more work done to them or they just may be chalked up to experimentation, the whole idea of playing with compositions was to see which ones appealed to me most!
Back to showing some of my explorations of composition today! You can read about the motivation and some of the details about these explorations on my original composition post. The piece for today is probably the most simple, and also my favorite of the seven that I created. It began with some loose lines on a piece of illustration board:
When the initial layers of color were dry it was time to trace over the sketch with black paint and add some finishing touches to the border and the corners.
Ta da! I love the fluidity of this piece, the simple design & the color combinations. I still have four more pieces to share with you…one more I’m pleased with and then three that don’t excite me. At least not yet!
Yesterday I shared a post about a series of images I have been working on with focus being on composition. Today I’m going to feature the piece that I created with the idea of “strata” in mind. Strata is basically layers or lines, much like the layers of earth and rocks our planet is made of. Like this image:
Basically a strata composition is made of several horizontal lines, this time I made the horizontal lines on a vertical piece of illustration board. It could just as easily be made on a horizontal piece, I just like the way this felt. As with the previous piece I started with a loose sketch of lines.
Following that the border was added with charcoal and the piece sealed before the paint was applied. Loose washes of color were painted on to each section, some being allowed to drip/run down the piece. Outside of the border wax had been applied to repel much of the paint, leaving that part a softer, lighter color that the image in the center. When the paint was dry I used a wide permanent marker to accent the border lines and then painted the four corners black. The original sketch marks were accented with lines of black paint. Eventually I had to add some dots for accent, I’d gotten into the dots on the previous piece and just couldn’t stop!
Some recent reading/browsing of art books, again, brought up the subject of composition. I generally go from my gut when I am creating/designing a piece…I think perhaps my years of seeing compositions through a lens helps me to just “feel” when something is in balance or where it needs help. But I thought it would perhaps help me to do some pre-designed artwork and see what sort of compositions appeal to me. Today’s post features a piece that I first sketched onto illustration board before painting. I tried to be very “loose” with both the sketching and the painting process and, at least for this piece, felt like I succeeded. After I sketched the piece I marked off a border around the edges with some charcoal & smudged the areas outside of the border a bit before sealing the piece with some clear acrylic that had a rough texture for painting over. The area outside the border & the flat edges of the piece were also rubbed with wax. The wax seals the edges so that paint doesn’t get into the layers of the board & make it swell and, where it was applied around the border, it also repels some of the paint, giving it a faded/light appearance.
In an effort to keep my painting “loose” I used large brushes and big strokes to apply the washes of paint onto the illustration board. That was left to dry until the next day. I used a wide permanent marker to accent the border lines and painted the four corners black at the same time. It was “okay” but I felt like it needed something. I decided that I would paint over the original sketch marks with a line of black paint. Well, I didn’t exactly “paint” I used a small squeeze bottle with a fine tip on it. Closer!! I still wanted a little something else so out came a slightly less thick marker and I began to add small black circles that filled up and tumbled from different areas of the painting.
It was looking pretty good up close but from a distance it was hard to tell the small details had been added. I didn’t want to fill in all the circles but decided a compromise would be to put some paint dots in the center of the larger circles.
That seemed to make the details stand out more and I happen to be a bit of a “dot” fanatic sometimes so I was doubly happy now. 🙂 The last step I added to this (and the other pieces made at the same time) was to accent the outside part of the border with a very thin line of paint where the composition crossed the line.
I actually liked the way this piece turned out, all in all I think I am around 50% happy with the entire group, I guess that’s not bad for trying something outside my normal comfort zone! I have more to share with you soon, next up? Strata!
