art lesson

In my experience, I know that I have mastered something when I can explain how to do it without a physical demonstration.   

Today, let’s begin here…

Imagine the scene you plan to paint is sectioned off like a tic-tac-toe board, four lines making a pattern of squares. Two are vertical lines. Two are horizontal lines. You want to create the focus or “focal point” of your painting on or near one of the line intersections. Find the focal point on the painting featured here. Do you see it?

You do not want your horizon line or the focal point to line up either halfway up or halfway down your painting. Your painting should be “off-center” not perfectly lined up with the middle of anything. Do you see it?

Do me a favor. Take a minute and sketch a simple landscape scene line drawing following the above two directions. How about a far-away mountain with a tree in the field in front of it. Did it work?   

Now that we have the most basic composition in place, we’ll begin to paint your scene.

Read more in the next installment of “A Written Art Lesson.” And please follow the progress of my latest painting “Under the Mill” on Instagram or Facebook. I’ll be explaining my artistic decisions as I progress.

As always, I’d be delighted if you shared this or any of my social media posts. Word of mouth is still the best way to grow a business.