This demonstration will be about creating a warm glowing scene at the beach. Using what you have already learned about color and value, we’ll create a complex scene with simplified shapes and color / value relationships. The relationships of color are very important, you must gauge everything off the major color in a scene. In
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Rivers, creeks, and streams are one of the ways that water appears in landscapes. Water can add so much to a scene by creating path and breaking up colors. The water in this stream had the typical grays, blues, and purples, but also browns, yellows, and greens reflected from the surround objects. There is plenty
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Skies can be either the dominant or supporting part in a landscape. When they are dominant, let them fill up at least two thirds of the image. If the sky takes up that much space, it must have something interesting to support that. A blue sky or sky with small color gradations should not be
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Trees are so diverse. To summarize them is a challenge, but not impossible. They can be painted on any number of scales but it goes back to finding shapes. It’s especially important with leafy trees to define interesting sky holes to create negative space. Negative space is formed by the absence of branches or leaves
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The purpose of a curving path for the viewer’s eye is to enlarge the space inside the painting and create visual interest. The sketch below shows how the curving shape of foam can help create an interesting composition.
The triangle composition works for several reasons. One reason is that it contains an odd number of supporting points. Our minds tend to find even numbers and formal symmetry more mundane than odd numbers and uneven spaces. It likely is related to the balance we truly experience in life. For example, a cone seems much
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Edges form basic lines and they separate shapes. Without edges, a painting has no detail or observable interest. Edges can be hard, soft, and anything in between. They are another form of contrast that a painter has available. Hard edges are more common in the foreground of a painting and the focal point, while soft
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Lines are certainly created by the long strokes in a painting. However, lines are also created by the outlines of shapes and positions of shapes relative to each other. The idea of creating interesting paths with diagonal and curved lines does apply to the entire painting, but lines in general can help to create the
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Focus is something we have to consider because it helps to make a painting interesting. The focus is the area of a painting which is meant to draw significant attention, and there can be more than one in a complex piece. A focus can be created by using detail, color, direction, and value. Value is
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At midday, especially during the summer months, daylight is actually very cool as well as bright. Objects can become washed out as your eyes are blinded. This is one effective use of lighting that can make viewers feel like they have to squint, recreating the experience as if they are in the scene. In the painting, much of the color
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