“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” — Edgar Degas The background of a painting creates the atmosphere for the entire artwork. The success of the subject matter comes to life as the viewer steps into the background, becomes engaged, and is guided to the point of focus. A close up of a flower, a bowl of fruit, a mountain cabin on a Continue Reading
How the Middle Ground Creates Harmony
“It is the brushwork of the right value and color which should produce the drawing.” —Camille Pissarro Space, as defined in art, relates to the relationship of the elements in your composition to each other. A typical layout will include these three spaces: Background Middle Ground Foreground In most painting compositions the foreground Continue Reading
Introduction: Basic Design Element Series
Design: The logical selection and arrangement of visual elements for order and interest. Everything our eyes rest upon can be described as a design. For example, the veins in a leaf, the lines on a hand, or billowing clouds. Even when we doodle or scribble, we can call these marks we make with our tools—pencils, sticks, fingers—designs! It’s quite Continue Reading
Palette Colors for Painting Blue and Cloudy Skies
“Once you have tasted the taste of the sky, you’ll forever look up.” — Leonardo Da Vinci Are you a cloud gazer who enjoys looking up at the sky, curious to see what familiar shapes and images might form? It can be exciting to see a shape emerge as the wind currents blow through the moisture in the clouds: a dog, a cat, an angel, maybe a shape like a Continue Reading