Structures

As I was talking about myself and my paintings the other day, I forgot to talk about my structures and numerous steps I take to finish one painting. First thing for me is to have some version of a visual object which it could be a picture or scene from some source of view because I do landscapes. Then I sketch my own composition based on what I have on hand and my canvas size.


Composition is a crucial part of any drawing or painting. It's like you're building this house and your base is not straight so no matter what you put on this place to make it look good it's not going to work because you are having a Pisa tower on your hands. Sometimes, when I sketch, my drawing all looks good and the composition makes sense, then when I apply the color to it, I start to see the differences. This is the time that you have to make sure your colors are having a balance and are having a tonality from top to the bottom like music with the perfect harmony.

I consider myself as a self-taught painter who made lots of mistakes and try to correct them by studying other painters masterpieces. One thing that I learned about painting is that there is no such a thing as a set formula for any style of painting; things change as you apply and you have to be flexible enough to go with the flow and balance your composition. Painting requires lots of passion and patience. It needs lots of alone time to separate yourself from daily problems. You need your focus and relaxation, you can't be a angry painter, what you're producing has a lot to do with your inner thoughts and your emotions. I remember in school one of my structures use to say if you feel tense try to relax or maybe have glass of wine; that might helps you.


I am a perfectionist and sometimes this works against me. Regardless of what I said above, there is no formula in painting. I'm from the old school; I follow rules and regulations, below are some structures that orchestrates your composition:


1-unity and balance


2-similarity and contrast


3-closure


4-continuity


5-repetitions of the shapes and forms


6-anomoly


7-focal point


8-hierarchy of colors


9-Chiaroscuro, the interplay of light and shadow on surface


I always try to keep these nine items as a map to myself and where I go with my paintings.