Basic 102: Class 5 - Composition in One Easy Lesson

[Newberry]

Composition in One Easy Lesson.

Hello all.

Jay and Judi have very enthusiastically invited me to teach a short course here on Wetcanvas. I am looking forward to working with the many kind, talented, and energetic people here.

Composition can be extremely daunting, complex, and leave one feeling insecure about almost anything one does with it. To add to this complexity I see composition as a metaphor for the artist’s life: is it crammed with too much stuff? Is it unbalanced? Is it rigid? Empty? Or flowing, full, dynamic, and beautiful?

In addition to that there can be as many rules to composition, and valid ones too, as there are minutes in the day. All that can freeze one up and intimidate them from ever starting.

O.K., that is the problem. But I believe I have an extremely good and simple guide that solves more problems than you can shake a charcoal stick at.

Let’s start.

What I am looking to teach here is that if you create interesting shapes in your four corners you will solve most of the compositional land mines. Please review my tutorial on composition here: http://www.wetcanvas.com/Articles2/8254/701/

Assignment:

Using a soft charcoal pencil or Conde, they are quick and will show up clearly when you digitally photograph it, measure out and draw exactly 4 x 6" or 5 x 7" borders. These will be the edges of your composition. Its important that they are neat, tidy, and exact. This is important because the composition is about how things related to the borders of the paper or canvas.

Take 15-30 minutes to compose anything you like, making essentially a simple line drawing, just a sketch. My preference is for an interior or a still-life. Please don’t worry about exactness, proportions, or details. I am only looking for how your arrange things. Hint: make the corner areas interesting!

Once you have done that, photograph it and upload it here. I will then review the work and make praises and, if need be, further observations.

Here are two examples. The first is mine, a little sloppy on the borders, but I included it to show I am looking for very simple drawings. The second is from Lorrie, from a yahoo art group, she was much neater!





Looking forward to seeing your compositions!

Michael
New York, July 9th

[Anita Murphy]

There are those corners again! Michael, thank you so much for doing this class! WIll draw up my rectangles tomorrow and get to work!

[Mary Woodul]

Thank you Michael for doing this for the Drawing and Sketching forum. It is one of those opportunities that makes me feel priviledged to have it at my reach.

[Judi1957]

Hi Micheal-four corners? i have no familiarity with them at all-so hence I NEED this Class. Thank you so much for taking us to what needs to be our beginnings!
I will review your link tomorrow with much eagerness and get right on it!

Thank-you so much!!!!!!

[Robin Neudorfer]

I will see what kind of still life I can conjure up on my tray table. I have been known to have a bit of fun sketching in an airplane. Sure does pass the time.
This is going to be fun. Thanks Michael!

["J"]

This isn't exactly what you asked for but...it does have the 4 corners

[Anita Murphy]

I have a question, Michael! In all the images that you have in your article the pictures are quite busy. I'm a minimalist kind of girl - can you still keep good composition with less going on in the painting?

[Fireman's kid]

I love the title of the class and sure hope there is truth in it! I have been so weak with composition I know ther is a lot for me to learn.

I'm off to do some chores then will be back to read the article.

[Judi1957]

Wow Michael-
This was the most enjoyable lunch hour I have ever had. I am totally enthralled by the beauty of your work and the information you have on your sites!!! I cannot wait to get home today and start!!!!!!

[africanart]

Michael

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. My composition is at times a bit wonky and feel that I can learn more. Who would have thought 4 corners.....

This lesson came at the most convenient time as I want to get back into painting again and thought a simple composition would do for that, struggled a bit to find what I wanted but came up with this.

Obviously some prespective issues and detail is not at best, but as this had more to do with composition I thought best to concentrate more on it and then move to correcting others as I go over to my canvas.

Once again thank you

Mary

[Mary Woodul]

Michael, I really didn't want to post this because I made such a mess of it with the charcoal trying to put in the shadows because I thought they would be important for the corners and the scan is pretty bad too. Maybe the contè wouldn't be as messy. I didn't check for vanishing points and my perspective is terrible but I think you mentioned it didn't matter if it was off a bit in this assignment. I want to try a still life because architectural things are not my comfort zone.

[Anita Murphy]

I did 8 of these little doodads - and found them incredibly hard to do. Apart from drawing so small I wanted to put in lots of detail and turn them into finished pictures! It may not look like it but I used a set square to draw the rectangles
I find these corners very hard to do - my natural urge is for Japanese style empty space.

Here they are

#1 #2
#3 #4
#5 #6
#7 #8

[Newberry]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for the warm welcome and I am excited to see the work already done, great start.

This is my first online class and I will do my best to give you a sense that you are taking a real class. In a real class of mine the set up for class critiques is as follows:

1. One student comments on the successful or the part they like the best about another student’s work.

2. The student comments what they like about their own piece and what they would change if they had more time.

3. Then I comment on what I think is successful, what I think is weak, and what you can do to make it more successful.

Because of the online nature of the class the critiques will probably not follow in that exact order, so we will improvise.

Later tonight I will be posting a critique, with visuals, of the works so far presented and answer your questions.

Cheers,

Michael

[Newberry]

edited, twice posted.

[Judi1957]

Jeeze Louise Anita-
Are you trying to make us all look bad?

I did one tonight and will work on more.
I found it a bit difficult too. I thought as I want sunlight as a part of the comp I could do a sunlight pattern streaming thru a window in the foreground-left side to the wall in the upper left corner and get some shapes that way.