Art Elements for Painters

Sharing time:

When I first started to paint I was admittingly all over the place with my "style". I was attempting to tackle acrylic painting like it was digital media, and let me tell ya, it was frustrating. First, there is no easy "undo" or "redo" button. Second both mediums are experienced differently. Disclaimer current advancing digital technologies are working this out, especially in the realm of illustration where digital tablets and pens "feel" more like paper and graphite. While I have professional digital artwork in the real world, I struggled painting. As I began to sway my approach away from tackling complicated subject matter with lots of detail to focusing on color theory and my design principles, I began to understand how to approach painting in a more productive and strategic manor. My work improved because I focused less on the accuracy of the work and instead pushed certain design elements. 

In the examples below, I will share my first acrylic paintings of the an eagle and that of Balancing Rock, in Colorado. To be frank, initially I disliked both of these images. However, the balancing rock seem to grab the most attention from my early fans. 

 

 

I questioned why people like this painting. I mean it really is not the most exciting piece in terms of detail and it is very abstract. 

So, let's understand why.

Simply put, color theory is what pushed that image into the favor of would be fans. In particular Split-Complimentary which arguably dips a bit in the Analogous color Harmonics. While the image leans abstract, we still see the form through the contrasting markings of lines which not only represent shadow detailing, but they also guide the eye into the center of the image. The composition itself "feels" both constrained and balanced due to the framing of the subject.  Balance is achieved in part through the aid of color theory harmony, but also with the use of the blue negative spacing on the top and bottom.

The above is how you approach critiquing art. By using the principles of design to articulate our understand of the art, we gain deeper knowledge about the painting and even the painter's message. We may even see the work in new ways each time we interpret what we are viewing. Please note that art never "sucks" as it holds meaning to artist themselves, whether we see it or not. 

"We should endeavor to view art with the mind of a child." 

Children truly can make better sense of abstract forms than adults. When I was younger, it was something I use to just say because I a was a huge fan of creativity and resourcefulness we all found in ourselves as children. How many of us imagined kingdoms of blanket tents and territorial feuds over carpet territory between the Barbie dolls and the G.I. Joes? What about finger painting or deciphering the shapes of clouds in the sky?

Here are some interesting reads which back up the notion that children see differently than adults:

Children and adults see the world differently, research finds.
By: Science Daily who sourced the University College London for the topic.

Your Brain Processes Images Differently When You're a Kid

By: Livescience.com
Author: Stephanie Pappas

Let's take a look at one of my nephew's watercolor painting. Atlas presented me with this wonderful painting earlier this year. Look at it and think about what it is you see.

What I have found to work for me, is to perceive my paintings abstractly by squinting my eyes to blur the perception of the subject matter I am viewing. I focus on shape and tone rather than detail. Leveraging our inner-child's perception can aid us in "blocking out" the proportions and shapes which become the foundation for the detailed work. At this stage proportion and scale are important contributions. So when you feel your acrylic painting is looking muddied, it's okay. Let it dry and paint over. This is not so easy with water color. Find your shapes and then push principles of design to help you build and refine detail in areas.

As we learn to translate the design principles into to the elements in our artwork, we may find more than one approach to accomplish our artistic visual goals. This may even mean following a strict or loose set of design principles. Whatever your style maybe, it is important that you are able define the principles of design which influences your techniques and pushes your style. The style may vary depending on the subject matter, medium, and where you push your comfort zones. We will continue our study in the next page, but let's sum things up as we move forward. 

First think abstractly about the overall subject matter. Use the 12 principles of design to help guide and shape that abstracted expression. Develop your usage of the principles into elements of art which aid you in your understanding and influence your defining your style by pushing your strengths.

Just a couple more things. Let's think about my eight year old nephew, Atlas and his painting. What did you see? Did you see a black cat or did you see a little pug dog? While either animal works well for the imagery, the correct answer is a pug. Initially I thought cat, but after he explained which animal he painted, I simply could not unsee the pug. What else can we talk about in regards to Atlas' painting? The cool color harmony works well with the imagery of the animal. Keep in mind we do not really start to develop a strong understanding of depth until we have reached the age of 12. So we can see that at eight years of age Atlas has a strong sense of shape and form. There is some sense of perception as we see a horizon line two thirds of the way up the medium. The proportions are overall well done when we consider the challenges to control the movement and viscosity of water painting. Speaking of movement, the yellow sun in the top juxtaposed to the contrast of the pug actually provides a visual balance with the negative light green space in the lower right corner. There could be some additional improvements in the framing of the pug by allowing the right side of the image to some space to breath. Ultimately, for me it is the use of color theory which ties this painting up well. 

Sharing time:

Perhaps we may want to see where my painting landing after some practice.

First Acrylic Sunflower Painting on Bristol. What really works for this painting is the vibrance in the hues. It's a bright and saturated painting. The balance is heavily weighted on the left side which causes the eye to drop right down the depicted row of flowers. The negative space on the right top quadrant is weighted down by darker tonality in the blue sky, which also helps to rest the eyes back down into the off centered row of flowers. The large flowers provides us with the visual structure of a foreground, while the row of flowers act as a middle ground and the sky is ultimately the background. However, I feel the middle ground could be improved upon. The color theory leans into an analogous harmony. While the yellow and orange provide visual warmth, the saturated values of the green and blue hues cools down the visuals, which helps the yellow "pop".

A few paintings later another depiction of sunflowers with improved detailed work, but notice this image is more balanced and guides the eyes from the right to the left. The perspective is both intentional and an improvement from the perspective used in the first version. The hues less saturated than the previous image and infuse a softer feel in the line work of the petals.

After a year...

Okay, so it's not a flower, but there was a lot of learning during the painting of Mr. Crookshanks and it took weeks to complete.

Let's apply our understanding in our next module with this painting assignment.