Importance Of Effective Composition

The structure of a painting should attract the eye to its central theme, which is called its center of interest. If it does this, the painting begins, at least, to be a good composition. But the center of interest must be supported by other elements in the painting. In the case of the drawings on the facing page, the preliminary sketch, named Gaspe, has as its center of interest the little group of houses in the lower foreground. Supporting elements include the smaller houses on the beach beyond, the headland in the background, and the water itself. You have undoubtedly seen carelessly composed pictures which have so many conflicting elements, so many distracting side-issues, that a focal point has been completely lost. Supporting elements must never detract from the central theme. Study of a random group of snapshots will probably show you just how important side-issues and their proper placement can be. The person who snaps his camera to record a beach party, for example, is not usually concerned with anything but the person or persons whose picture he is "taking." The center of interest is so important that supporting elements are completely forgotten. Such subjects, as a result, may have telegraph poles growing out of their heads or may be shown with the feet in the foreground of such tremendous size that they compete for attention with the center of interest itself.

It is not the purpose of this book to delve deeply into the subject of composition. The aspiring student of watercolor must, as he progresses, gradually become aware of such essentials as proportion, rhythm, unity, balance, contrast, etc.

It is important, however, that the artist, before he starts a picture, be completely sold on the importance of its subject matter. If he lacks this enthusiasm, his interest will flag, and the final result will be one of hopeless mediocrity. Therefore, pick a subject that you are strongly drawn to and start by thinking about it in terms of pattern so that your areas will be well and interestingly divided. Next, decide on your eye level; this horizontal determines the horizon line in your painting. (This is more fully explained on page 18.) Having decided what to paint, you must next decide what interests you most, foreground or background. The next step is to view your subject in abstract terms, breaking down the component parts of your design and placing the elements in their proper relation to each other (see page 29).

The next step is a prerequisite to all painting—a good drawing. If you cannot draw, your case is not hopeless, but you must learn to draw. You will find, too, that your water-colors improve as your ability to draw increases (see page 93).

The accompanying sketches are included to help you see the movement of a composition. Using the letter "S" as a basic form, I produced a coastal sketch. In the letter "X" I have presented a city scene. Try this exercise yourself and see how many pictures you can develop from the use of different letters. For instance, the letter "O" has possibilities for a racetrack, a ballet dancer, and so on. Other letters have possibilities too.

Horizon Line And Eye Level

The horizon line lured early navigators to the discovery that the earth is round. It drew them onward and onward until inevitably they arrived at the place from which they had started. And the horizon line was still in front of them!

I find that students learn much about composition and the simpler facts about perspective when they discover that the horizon line is always at their own eye level. On page 22 you will find a sketch which shows how to find the horizon line by holding a pencil at eye level. I also recommend that you discover the magic of the horizon line by holding the pencil at eye level first in a standing position, then in a squatting position, then in a sitting position, and finally lying prone.

The importance of the horizon line is well demonstrated in the paintings on the facing page. Actually, what is really one picture has been turned into two distinct pictures by a mere shifting of the placement of this line. In the top picture the horizon line is low and the foreground shallow, making the sky the predominating motif and therefore the center of interest. In the bottom picture the same horizon line is placed high and most of the sky is eliminated, making the foreground and the figure group the dominant note of interest. If you were to imagine everything from the middle of the tree down in the top picture as having been eliminated, it becomes perfectly clear that this is one picture. Can you say that one picture is better than the other? I would say it is just a question of the `painter's emphasis and graphic intuition.

In your own work the decision about what to include above and below the horizon line may, at first, present a perplexing choice. However, as you continue to draw and paint, your knowledge of what makes a good composition will increase and you will be able to decide on the placement of the horizon line almost instinctively. You may even find more than one picture, as I happen to have done here.
 
Prouts Neck
 
Planning Your Picture
 
One of the lessons that experience in making thumbnail sketches (see page 30) will teach you is which way to put your picture on a sheet of paper. As mentioned in the materials section (see page 9), watercolor paper comes in sheets (22 inches by 30 inches) or half sheets (22 inches by 15 inches) because the full sheet, called "Imperial," is standard equipment. Constant use of these sizes can be habit forming, leading the unwary to the conclusion that his pictures must be painted within the limits of those dimensions. This kind of thinking should be avoided. If you feel that your subject calls for less than a full sheet or more than a half-sheet, by all means utilize the size you feel is needed to give your picture the proper area of expression. Be careful, too, not to make the mistake of thinking that your picture should be painted the horizontal way of the paper because it looks more conventional that way. The illustrations on pages 23 and 24 prove that vertical pictures and horizontal pictures that are not the proportion of a standard sheet may be just as successful as those that are. Also refer to pages 35, 56, and 91.

You may occasionally find that a picture that does not please you when it is finished may be saved by overlaying long narrow mats or square mats of different openings until you find a more satisfactory arrangement of elements.

On page 22 you will find a very simple lesson in perspective. It is helpful in planning your picture to understand, at least, the fact that you establish vanishing points at either end of your horizon line. All the elements of the picture, if abstracted (see page 85) would lead to one of those two points, either from above or below the horizon line. It is not necessary, however, in composing your picture to go to any such extreme. It is useful to know about vanishing points if your composition includes a building or buildings. As you progress, you may wish to learn more about perspective or, then again, you may not. It is a subject about which many books have been written. It is also a subject which has developed considerable controversy. Some artists wish it had never been discovered, large numbers of well-known artists have learned to use it properly or to violate its principles almost intuitively to achieve some effect, while another large body of artists would feel helpless if they did not study the mechanical aspects of it in planning all their drawings. A good recent book which does much to clarify the use and misuse of perspective is How to Use Creative

Perspective by Ernest W. Watson (Reinhold).

The two pictures at left are examples of off size horizontal pictures. The farm scene with its free panoramic openness is in direct contrast to the tight, constrained city "sidewalk-scape" complete with brown-stone, ironwork, barber shop with basement entrance. In contrast to these, on the bottom is the full sheet (22 in. x 30 in.) which is the conventional size and shape. Is one better than the other? Note in the cascade how again Maskoid was used to retain desired white areas (see page 58).

Daubs

Finding Compositions In Abstractions

Reproduced on the left-hand page is a painting which looks like an abstraction. It is the work of two people who had never painted a picture in their lives. I gave each of them a number 2, a number 8, and a one-inch wash brush and told them to throw discretion to the winds and give their artistic fancies free rein.

In the back of this book is a heavy paper view-finder or mask. Note the many different pictorial compositions you can find through the cutout by moving the view-finder slowly around the surface of the painting. In doing this, half close your eyes so that you can more easily find images that will suggest a picture to you. This exercise will stimulate your imagination as well as teach you to find pictures where you may think that none exist. This same approach can be applied to the pictures that one seeks in nature. Don't look for the obvious; it is not necessary to travel miles in search of pictures that somewhere (you hope) nature has already arranged for your convenience. There is probably a better one in your own backyard.

Abstractions have a highly practical basic value and, when used discreetly and intelligently, they can be of real assistance to any artist.
 
The Abstract Applied To Composition

My views about abstractions can be stated quite simply in terms of composition and design. Specifically, I use abstractions during the structure, the build-up, of a painting. They are used, principally, to divide areas into effective components of the design. I could, of course, paint the picture in that state but, to me, it would be an incomplete statement, somewhat like the framework of a building.

Abstractions, as pictorial art, are, in the hands of competent and experienced craftsmen, works of tremendous dramatic power. However, to the inexperienced amateur or student, abstractions are apt to be siren calls luring them away from the discipline of first principles and basic training. Learn the fundamentals first; then strike out wherever your fancy may lead you.

The practical application of abstractions to conventional design will be of far more value to you than any attempt on your part to express yourself in abstract pictorial terms. These are certain to be meaningless until you have learned something about the forms upon which they are based.

On the facing page I have demonstrated my use of abstract forms to pull a picture together. You will find, if you adhere to this formula, that it will help solve many problems of balance and placement in the basic design of a painting.

Mr. Jay Datus, a well-known artist of Phoenix, has expressed the differences in philosophy between the conservative and the modernist thus:

The Modern Point Of View

The modernist feels that the psychological impact of line, color, mass, and other abstract elements of art is enough to carry his artistic message. While there are many different philosophies among modernists, they generally agree in wishing to be unrestricted by naturalism. Their sincere wish is that the public will approach their work open-mind-edly and free of a preconception based only on realism.

The Conservative Point Of View

The traditional painter uses line, color, mass, and other abstract elements to express the emotional message of his art, but he feels this is not enough. This is only his framework, upon which he builds naturalistic form which also carries his ideas. He does not see nature as restrictive, but as a discipline within which artists of his tradition have grown great. He sees nature as a teacher of the ever deepening beauties of life.

This scene was drawn exactly as it appeared. It is a rural Connecticut landscape with interesting possibilities. However, changes must be made in order to make it a sound piece of work. At first glance, the picture seems pleasing, but on closer examination you will note that each tree follows the perpendicular lines of the buildings, the road starts in the center of the picture, the fence is static, and the limbs of the trees all have the same direction; the painting does not establish a mood.

This is an abstract of the above picture. It is broken down in terms of composition and design. Note how the space is divided using only large forms and no identical sized areas. Also note how the branches are used to divide the spaces interestingly. This is one way to make a better picture.

Here is the result of the abstract re-alignment of space. The trees, as you can see, are placed in such a manner that they frame the buildings. The new arrangement of the road gives the picture a base, the fence is more interestingly broken up, and the whole picture comes back to realism through the strength of the abstract.

Thumbnail Sketches

As a study of page 29 indicates, one way to start a picture is to abstract the various elements of the composition. A second way, once you have decided upon your subject, is to make several thumbnail sketches, using both perpendicular and horizontal shapes. In these small sketches you can experiment with the composition and design that your picture eventually will take. Never mind details in these sketches; concentrate instead on the large forms, masses, or areas of your picture-to-be. Then, as soon as the composition has been established to your satisfaction, you are ready to transfer the picture to a full or half sheet (22 inches by 30 inches, or 22 inches by 15 inches).

In making these sketches, be sure that their proportions are in the correct ratio to the half and full sheets. For example, a thumbnail sketch could be 3¾ inches by 5½ inches, or one-quarter the size of a half sheet. Divide the full sheet size by four in order to get the proportion for that particular size. If you fail to do this, your thumbnail will be completely out of proportion to the full and half sheet sizes. It is for this reason, as well as for reasons of economical framing, that I advocate standard sizes while you are learning the watercolor medium.

Above all, don't take the word "thumbnail" too literally and make your sketches too small. The practice of making thumbnail sketches is advisable whether one is a beginner or a professional. In either case, mistakes will be made and it is better to make them in a preliminary sketch than in your larger working areas.

Below are three alternate thumbnail compositions. Note the photograph at top of next page: it shows you the liberties I have taken in these sketches. Use photographs as a basic plan and then make your own compositions.

The photograph is of a scene which you might have selected as a subject for one of your pictures. Having done so, you are now confronted with the problem of composition, of moving objects around to form an interesting pattern or of changing the horizon line to feature either foreground or background.

Here is how it is done. Move rock from in front of church to the left side. Make church larger and include more of sky and steeple by dropping your horizon line. Eliminate stone fence in the foreground and redesign tree and road. Road now leads the eye from lower left-hand corner of picture directly to church— the center of interest.

Here is another version of the same scene. In this one, we raise the horizon line in the picture in order to include all of the fence in our foreground, with the road still leading to the church as the focal point of the picture. We also include a vista of the background hills giving a sense of depth and distance to the painting. You can see how many possibilities a single picture can have, and how useful the thumbnail sketches are.

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