Currently Browsing: composition 7 articles
Compositional Choices in a Journal
I was writing last month about choices on my Patreon blog and my mind keeps coming up with examples even though we’ve moved on. This one is about compositional choice. And we never really move away from compositional choices… First, nope, I didn’t suddenly get tired and give up on the rest of the head […]
Breathing Room on the Page (or Page Spread)
One of the most important compositional tools you have in a visual journal or sketchbook is the breathing space on the page (or page spread). The negative space around an image helps define the image through silhouette, and shape recognition. The space will help you correct angles and proportions when you go off—or— if you […]
Using Viewfinders
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Scavenging for Graphics: Ballpark Graphics
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Edo Pop at the Minneapolis Art Institute
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Two More Books With Inspiring Art (and Information)
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Notan–beauty in Daily Life
Left: Portrait of Emma, cut paper, ©1998. Using a sketch of my Alaskan Malamute bitch Emma I cut out pieces of Canson Mi Tientes paper in 3 values to construct her portrait.
Getting up from the computer yesterday after writing about notan, I started walking around the studio and house doing a variety of tasks. Suddenly it struck me there were prominent examples of notan everywhere I looked. This was because I had images I’d made of my two Alaskan Malamute bitches everywhere I looked. Most people who know me are familiar with my Daily Dots project (for what was to be the last five years of Dottie’s life I drew her daily). But before Dottie (and together with her for awhile) her Aunt Emma was the graphical beast in the house. While I never drew Emma daily she was a frequent subject of illustration.
I joke with my drawing students that if they want to have a dog for a life model a black and white Malamute is their best choice. Looking around at the art on my walls I realized that my statement is much more complex than I even intended. Beyond the ease with which one can locate points of reference on a stately and somewhat symmetrically marked Malamute there is the issue of notan-beauty. They embody it.