Speaking of Art Blog

Tiptoe, pastel, 11x18"

“Be sure to add places in your painting for your viewer’s eyes to take a rest.” 

I’m not sure when or where I learned this art tip, but when I heard it for the first time I do remember thinking that it was a good one to remember and utilize in my artwork.  Why?  Because it rings true in real life too.  What do we do when we want to go to sleep?  We start to wind down (or at least we should).  We turn off lights, change into comfortable clothing, and we turn off all the disparate noises around us.  We take a rest from all the busy sights and sounds of our wake time day.  We give our senses a rest.

So why can’t parts of a painting echo that idea?  They can.  If every single element in a painting is commanding our attention at once, then it can become a cacophony of noise, and not a thing of beauty.  I believe in adding places and spaces in my work that give rest to the eyes and thereby help the busy, noisier places retain center stage.  Then hopefully my viewer’s senses don’t go on overload.

So how do I create quiet places?  First, a quiet shape needs to have very few value contrasts, meaning very little variation in lights and darks.  Colors can change, but they need to be all or almost all the same light/darkness.  Second, if there’s a lot of little busy shapes in the painting, the quiet shapes should be more on the large size to create balance.  Third, colors in the quiet shapes don’t necessarily have to be drab, but they also shouldn’t overpower the center of interest.  Muted, grayed colors are quiet.  Hot bright orange and red are loud and busy.  I have circled the quiet places in my newest painting, Tiptoe.

There’s also the issue of where to place the quiet shapes.  Every painting differs in this regard because it all depends on the subject matter.  In a portrait, for instance, the background surrounding the figure is usually the quiet space.  But with a subject such as this Yellow Warbler stepping on a lily pad in a pond with ripples, my quiet spaces are scattered.  One thing I quickly realized even before starting this painting is that almost all of the busy shapes are in the bottom half while the top half is primarily quiet.  Hmm, I needed to make sure I had transition shapes to tie the two halves together.  Otherwise it would look like my painting has a split personality.  In this image below I’ve circled the two transition elements that tie the top to the bottom – the water lily blossom and the bird’s tail.  Very important.  By overlapping both the quiet and the busy, they serve to unify the top and bottom to make them look like they are part of a whole scene.

Now my viewer has a choice of several places to rest before jumping back into the busy parts.  Or if they prefer, they can take their cue from the cute little Yellow Warbler and tiptoe back in.  Quiet and busy, they’re both important elements in creating a painting that makes for a beautiful, lifelike adventure.