Drawing « Gordon’s Gallery

All about tangents

Tangents can be both a blessing and a curse, When used as they should be as a design tool to direct the eye arount the picture they can be the differance between making a very good picture and one that is so so.

Tagents that occur accidently and not by design can become an eye catcher which attract the viewers eye from the focal point.

The artist should be aware that these unwelcome tangents can be created unintentionly, always check while you are painting for anything that creates attention grabbers that was not intended.

This mono print when being pulled transfered more Red pigment on two of the rectangles than the the others, which made them advance and they appear to be floating in the air, the solution is to desaturate red to match the other rectangles.

Girl on steps Mono print

The solution is to de saturate the red to match the other rectangles,

The rectangles are now attached to the wall where they belong, but the rectangle on the right is attached to the frame which is a very unwelcome tangent

Solution block out most of the rectangle to make it appear that most of the rectangle is outside the picture area or remove all together,

Now the graffiti looks like it is attached to the girl

Solution change it’s hue to a lighter value colour, now compare this picture to the first and note the differance.

Avoiding Tangents

One effect that compositional tangents have on an overall composition is that they create unnecessary tension or competition between shapes. Tangents distract the viewer of the painting from the intended focus of the painting.

This is especially problematic when the tangent exists in an area that is secondary or tertiary in importance to the main area of focus. This is certainly the case with this painting.

Obviously, I want the viewers to be focusing their attention on the two characters in the painting.

1. Isolating corners

Problem when a shape completely covers any corner of the artwork, it visually isolates that corner from the rest of the painting.

Solutions lighten or darken that area so that is integrates with the rest of the picture.

2 Half Shapes

Halves When a symmetrical shape is cut in half by the edge of the painting it creates an uncomfortable, chopped-off feeling for the viewer

half-clock3

Solution: Bring the entire shape inside the picture plane or crop the image somewhere other than the halfway point. You will also want to avoid cropping directly at any joint of an animal or person, or at a corner of an object or structure.

3. Fused edges (object with frame)

When the edge of an object touches the edge of your painting it can link with the frame and be isolated from the picture

Solution: Crop slightly inside the object, leaving some of it up to the imagination of your viewers, or place it entirely inside the picture frame with room to spare.

4. Fused edges (object with object)

When the edges of two shapes touch, the same “crowded” sensation is felt

Solution: Overlap your objects or put some space between them.

5. Consealed edge

When the edge of one object is hidden behind another object oriented in the same direction, the two may appear strangely joined

Together, the roof and the chimney stack appear to be one.

Solution: Change your angle so the hidden edge can be seen or put some space between the two shapes

It can now be seen that the stack is on the other side of the roof.

6 Aligned Objects

When a vertical shape intersects or is directly aligned with the apex of another shape it causes a strange, unwanted symmetry.

Solution: Shift one shape or the other so there is no overlap at the apex.

7. Shared edge

When the edge of one shape aligns perfectly with the edge of a second shape, it creates an ambiguous edge for both

. stolen-edge

Solution: Change your vantage point to avoid overlapping edges like this.

8. Joined Objects

When distinct vertical shapes appear directly behind an object, they often appear to be growing out of that object like antlers.

pigs

Solution: Shift the background shapes to the side, out from behind the object, or change their value or colour to blend more with the background

First posted to the web 1996.

Revised 26 April 2010

The Artist Board

My Love Of Drawing

If I could only work in one medium, without hesitation I would choose the humble pencil for its ability to capture the essence of what you want to portray in a few loosely stated brief lines. And with a little more care you can have a line drawing of the utmost beauty.

It allows you to develop the drawing further by adding values in the form of shading which creates light and dark. Nearly every art teacher or instruction book will tell you that a good painting comes from ideas developed from sketches, these sketches have solved their composition and values for them and all that is left to be decided is the colours.

And these little drawings are often works of art themselves, and are often sort after by art collectors. Some artists place a great value on this work and refuse to part with these drawings, keeping them in their own collection It is a shame that other artists neglect this part of their artistic development and never experience the joy of doing a drawing that expresses exactly what they felt about the subject.

Some painters say their reason for not drawing on the canvas before they paint is that they like to paint the large shapes first and don’t want to be confined by lines. This is nonsense, because drawing is based on the ability to see shapes, and as most of the worlds best paintings were, and still are, done from preliminary drawings and cartoons that define those shapes, the worlds greatest painters developed their drawing skills to the highest degree.

And last, but by no means least when drawing, a good many artist start by drawing the largest shapes first, and gradually refine the line, and develop the light and shade bringing drawing to completion.

In fact there are many reasons to draw. There is nothing better than dashing of a quick sketch of something that has caught your eye. You can’t always paint it as you might not have enough time, but the drawing will give you all the information you need back in the studio. Life drawing will give you the skill to put believable people in your paintings. It can also give you the ability to get a likeness in portraits.

It is for all these reasons that I love drawing, the thrill of quick sketch that enables you to make a painting. So if you are one of those painters who never draw, invest a couple of dollars in pencils and cartridge paper and discover the delights of sketching you will so glad you did.

Both the sketches below was drawn onsite the first called the “Boilerhouse”

Took about one hour because it was a value study

The one beneath was more or less an

Outline sketch which was completed

In 15 minutes

Gordon’s Gallery

Classes In Watercolour

Drawing

Tangents in Composition