From The Heart -- A Better Way to Design Your Paintings

Edgar Payne

Have you ever worked on a painting and there was something that just wasn't right but you couldn't figure out what?

Chances are that it is in the design. Composition and design books used to baffle me and the thought process just didn't come easy when it came to the actual execution of a painting. But, over the years I have come to understand a few SIMPLE design ideas that really do work. AND they really are SIMPLE!

I can now use these simple principals in my paintings while doing several quick thumbnail or "notan" sketches.

I've been teaching the Notan design theory in my classes for several years. I first heard of the term through Virtual Art Academy Online. (A wonderful resource for learning.)
Notan is part of the design element in your painting. You use the notan drawing as a way of finding your design. Design is THE important element of painting.

There are a couple of other simple design ideas I'd like to share with you.....

FOUNDATIONS OF DESIGN 

By Randy Blasquez

The design will determine whether or not your painting will succeed.  This is why I believe that design in the most important element in any painting. We will look at how to design using thumbnail sketches and by identifying big patterns.

There are two main elements to consider. One is the focal point and the other is the dark and light pattern within your painting.

FOCAL POINT

The main focus in a painting is usually found at the focal point. This is the “anchor” in your composition. This is where the viewers eye goes, and in a well designed painting, will return to again and again.

What makes a focal point work? You don’t want another area in your painting to distract from the focal point. Therefore, as the designer you will need to take steps to insure that your central focal point will be more eye catching than anything else in your painting.

You will want to momentarily lure the viewer’s eye to other areas of the painting, but you must always lead them back to the focal point. I loved the way C.W. Mundy said it when I was in his workshop a couple of years ago. “You are the leader of the band, and you get to decide who plays the lead”.

WAYS TO THE FOCAL POINT

Value

Use your lightest light directly next to your darkest dark to bring the eye to the focal area.

Color

By using contrasting color, bright chromatic and dull color, or color temperature vibrations you may bring the eye to the central focus.

Edges

By using sharper edges at the focal point is another way to bring the eye directly to your focal point.

Contrast

Use contrast of temperature or consider the complement of the color you are using and put it right next to the focal point.

*It is always a good idea to place your focal point in the golden area.

DARK/LIGHT PATTERN

Another important aspect of composition is the dark and light contrast that will be the foundation of your design.

The dark and light pattern in a design is an arrangement that will create a lyrical quality of beauty in your painting. This is something that the student will learn to see and appreciate over time, but it is well worth the effort to learn.

This concept started to become clear to me while studying the idea of using a notan sketch to design a painting using a thumbnail drawing.  I think I first heard the word notan while reading through some Barry John Raybould material through the Virtual Art Academy.  The only other artist that I know to use this word to describe dark/light pattern is Peggy Kroll Roberts.

Barry John Raybould puts it this way, “Notan is the harmonious arrangement of the dark and light masses in a picture”.

THE ONE RULE OF COMPOSITION

When I took a workshop with Carol Marine many years ago she mentioned a book that I was already familiar with. “The Simple Secret to Better Painting” How to immediately Improve Your Work with the One Rule of Composition”, by Greg Albert.

What artist could resist that title? It was very good, and I took away from it the following:

Never make any two intervals the same in your painting. So when I design a painting I always look for differences of space. This will make your painting feel more dynamic.

Space must be divided un-equally.

Shapes must be different in size and dimension.

No two areas in your painting should be equal in distance or length.

Create variety by looking for the big differences in the size of your subjects within your painting.

Vary the amount of value to make sure one of them is dominant. Carol Marine says to make three values unevenly divided by using the dominant value, the secondary value and the “smidge”. Your eye will tend to go toward the smidge.

Use a variety of brush strokes and texture. Some areas should be transparent, others opaque, some thin and others thick. You get the idea.

Vary your use of color temperature. Put warm and cool together in such a way as to create vibration and intensity.

Use color compliments and split compliments in the same manner as the values of a lot, a little, and a smidge.

Some reading material to help you understand more about Compositon:

Composition

Understanding Line, Notan and Color by Arthur Wesley Dow

Composition of Outdoor Painting by Edgar Payne

Carlson Guide to Landscape Painting by John E. Carlson

  

I will be teaching the art of the notan in the workshop "Mastering Composition and Design", coming up this March 15th and 16th at the School of Light and Color.

Contact Debbie at The School of Light & Color
10030 Fair Oaks Blvd.
Fair Oaks, CA 95628

(916) 966-7517 sarback@lightandcolor.com

Edgar Payne Sketches