Do you mind some shop talk? Some tips on composition :)

Looking back, I thought this page from the other week was a good example in a few ways.

Here’s what I was actually looking at.

Kind
of a good example what they mean by ‘simplification’ hey? They keep
telling you to do that – simplify. But what does it really mean? 
Creating Focus. Leaving out whatever is in the way of that single thing
that drew your eye.

Clearly, I don’t want the truck in my sketch
🙂  that’s easy. But also I see immediately that the yellow awning and
cafe below it is the interesting part of this view.  Not the people
setting up their booth. Not the larger building, but the smaller one.

So
even in the drawing, you can see the focus being created with
composition.  Leaving out most of the blue building, but using it to be a
big directional arrow pointing to the subject. Clustering all the
detail – all the little active shapes – under the awning. Leaving out
distractions – even tho’ I love lamp-posts and foreground trees! It was
hard to force myself to leave that stuff out.

I
like to say to students – “spend half the time on the drawing. and half
on the paint”. People never want to do that. They want to get right to
the color! But if you delay your gratification, you’ll be much happier.
See how the shadow shapes in the roof-line are sketched in the drawing?
The design is solved before I go to color. It’s great to be able to put
aside the design thinking – so when you’re painting, you can just paint.
The work is done, so you can play with the color.

So, this is the
first pass – the wet-in-wet wash. This is what they mean, ‘work larger
to smaller’. Only the big blocks of color. This also is when you let the
watercolor mingle naturally.  This is why you’re not oil painting.
Watercolor should be allowed to do it’s magic thing. Take advantage of
the physics of water.

Then
finally, after an hour or more of delaying gratification – you get to
draw the details! Maybe it’s just me – but it’s the detail that I love. I
really want to just start noodling immediately with tiny tiny shapes.
But if you do that, you’ll lose the ‘life’ – the freshness that make a
sketch appealing.

These smaller shadows, and dark darks are when I
start painting wet-on-dry –  so I can get a sharp edge when I want it.
(Window panes!) And I’m using less water, more paint, so my shadows have
solidity.

The eye loves three things – contrast, chroma (intense
color) and detail. If they are not kept in the same place – the eye will
wander – seeking information and entertainment. A tight composition
keeps the darkest darks, the smallest details,  and the brightens colors
in the same place.  The focal point.

See how each window gets
progressively more interesting as you work left to right, then down to
the bright awning, until suddenly you’re walking into a nice cafe! Looks
like a great place for lunch 🙂

I like to call this the “Gradient of Interest”. All the elements working together to lead the eye.