Technique is not the secret of painting. It’s not using tissues, toothbrushes, sponges, palette knives, cotton swabs or razor blades along with your artist paint brushes. Nor is it about “put a little blue here.” All of these have a place in our bag of drawing and painting tricks … but the real secret of picture making is composition.

Underlying all works of art (at all levels from good amateur level to great pictures) is structure.

On the first day in my English Literature class in my art university, the professor played “Bolero,” an orchestral work by Maurice Ravel and asked us what it was. The whole class squirmed and could not come up with an answer. Our professor finally said “it’s a crescendo.” That was the underlying structure. That was the idea. That was the organizing theme. Aside from Ravel having skills in melody and musicality, he was a composer.

Listeners like what they hear in “Bolero.” Some listeners have music training and understand on all levels, including understanding the underlying structure. Untrained listeners like what they hear and while they may not know it they like “Bolero” because it is composed. That’s why it is performed over and over in symphony halls. That’s why a ballet was created to dance to the gradual increase in volume and intensity up to the thunderous climax that ends “Bolero.” My English Professor taught me about composition in art using “Bolero” as an example.

Paintings have underlying principles that organize the elements of the picture in order to bring the eye of the viewer into and around the image in an interesting way and to organize the elements into a cohesive whole.

There are nearly infinite ways to structure a picture. Some are obvious, like a mother arching over and protecting a resting or sleeping horizontal child. Another obvious composition is the opposing angles of two fighters in a boxing match.

Some of the principles of composition:

• Beauty is organized variety.
• Variety equals interest.
• A picture needs a dominant element, a sub-dominant element and subordinate elements organized into interesting relationships. This creates order for the viewer so that you, the painter, can entertain the eye of the viewer with a varied and therefore interesting picture order.
• The dominant element can be made dominant by a somewhat central position, by size dominance or interest dominance, and through the complexity of the dominant element or its psychological dominance. For instance, the eye of a viewer is drawn to a human face.
• Those elements need to be varied in size and shape for maximum interest.
• The viewer needs to have a path to those elements that is interesting.
• Thumbnails … small sketches … can organize your picture before you get into the details.
• The negative areas (spaces between objects) are as important as the objects.
• The center of the picture is the most powerful … not the exact center … but the area around the center is where your dominant element gains strength.
• Tension between two elements adds interest (like the opposition thrust of the fighters mentioned above).
• Division horizontally suggests peacefulness.
• Those divisions should not be equal as that would create a boring picture.
• In a painting of a sky, mountain range and valley let’s say you want the sky to dominate. You would make the sky ½ the height of the canvas (3/6ths). But a linear (3-2-1) stacking would be boring. 3-1-2 is more interesting. So sky 3, mountain range 1 and foreground valley 2.

Art courses, classes, videos and TV shows that teach technique but don’t address composition miss the key to making good pictures.

To be sure, an understanding of technique, color theory, form, drawing, perspective and proportion need to be studied and developed but they should serve on an underlying structure.

Composition is the secret of painting.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Barry_Waldman

Hello and welcome back to another great article from us on oil painting brushes for the beginner. Since we started these great articles our goal has been to make sure that you buy the supplies you need to begin a great hobby in oil painting yet not spend a super large amount of money doing it. Oil painting does not have to be an expensive hobby as some make it out to be.

In previous articles we’ve discussed a variety of brush shapes and materials to help you start your hobby and oil painting. In addition to the types of brushes that we have talked about before there are wide varieties that you may not be familiar with. That’s okay, they really don’t concern you as a beginner in this hobby. Often times small specialty shops will convince you that you need to buy every kind of brush there is but in truth you often don’t.

As a beginner your brush selection does not need to be as vast as it would be if you were a well experienced painter. For instance brushes are sized by numbers which are based on the width of the bushes. This width measurement is taken at the furor. The feral is a metal sleeve holds the hairs in place. For most of the projects that you will have as a beginner in oil painting your best choices are the number two round and maybe two or three other brushes.

These can either be flats or brights and typically in sizes that range from a number four all the way up to number eight. It is not necessary to have every brush style and size in your collection as a beginner. Keep this in mind while you go shopping for your oil paint supplies as often times it will be the job of the sales associate to make sure that you walk out of the store with more than you need and more than you have to spend.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_J_Williams

Oil painting is a great way to express your personality and individuality. It’s also an excellent choice for beginners, because it’s quite forgiving and if you make a mistake, you can pretty easily fix it by painting over it or clean it with a solvent.

In order to paint well, you need talent, right? Well, talent is certainly not a bad thing, but it won’t make you a master artist. You also need know-how. You need to learn and understand the basics and work your way up. It’s a learning process that takes time and commitment. Remember, no one was ever born with the knowledge how to paint.

I think that every beginner painter should take some kind of lessons. Internet, books, DVDs – all are fine, as long as you get acquainted with the basics – composition, lighting, perspective, brushwork techniques, color theory, and so on. All this may sound a bit daunting at first, but with a step-by-step approach it’s really not that hard.

The knowledge is, of course, extremely important, but in the end practice is what will help you the most. The best way to learn it is by doing it. Practice makes perfect. So now that you have the basic know-how, all you need is the equipment and a place to work.

A place to work should be quiet, with good lighting and ventilation. As for equipment, you’ll need an easel (adjustable easel is a great thing so that you don’t strain your back), canvas, brushes (go for the quality here), oil paints, thinner, palette, and palette knife to mix the colors. Painting clothes are also recommendable, because it usually gets quite messy.

When you are starting out, you shouldn’t go overboard on the supplies. Just go for the basics and remember, you don’t have to spend a fortune. It’s OK to go for a lesser quality when you’re learning and experimenting. But do choose quality when it comes to brushes. Cheap brushes can be a huge headache.

Learning painting is definitely not as daunting as many people might think. Of course, it does take time and effort and it won’t be mastered overnight, but it’s definitely worth it.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brian_Hallfast

Walter Fosters the table of content includes, Choosing Your Materials, Setting up a still life, Finding Compositions, Working from Photos, Rendering Glass, Capturing Time of Day, Depicting Textures, Playing with Patterns, Choosing Nontraditional Subjects, Toning the Canvas, Narrowing the Focus, Applying Perspective, Painting Floral Bouquets, and Walter Foster Art Instruction Program. Still Life inside the book includes, collage of paint tubes, clear and colored bottles, chair on the beach, fruit, flip flops, & flowers.

Painting And Drawing Books by WALTER FOSTER PUBL

How To Paint
Paint Books
Craft Supplies