Principles of design…

BalanceContrastEmphasisProportion

Unity/HarmonyVarietyRepetition (pattern)Rhythm/Movement

1. Unity/Harmony Occurs when all of

the elements combine to make a balanced, harmonious and complete whole

Brings a piece of art together with similar units.  If your composition was using wavy lines you would stay with those types of lines and not put in just one jagged one.

2. ProportionThe relative size and scale of the various elements in a design. The issue is the relationship between objects, or parts, of a whole.

Proportion (1)

We have talked about size…

What appears to be the larger item in this photo (of the Arc de Triomphe? Why does it appear to be the largest?

Proportion (2)

And we have talked about depth too…

What is the proportion here? What does the proportion do to this photo? 

Tips on DRAWING in proportion?#1: Be aware of the whole drawing.

When you are drawing you should try and be aware of the whole drawing before you have drawn the whole drawing. How the heck can you do that??

The best way to do that is to do some small “thumbnail sketches” of your composition and then transfer the one you have chosen to the larger paper from one side to another.

# 2 Use a pencil to measure.

Try using your pencil, measure the objects length and height. Then still using your pencil as the "ruler" - transfer those measurements onto your paper. What that does is give you boundaries within which to do your drawing so that you can get the drawing placed correctly on the page.

Example: When you close one eye the pumpkin on the table might be ½ a pencil high, the gorde next to it might be ¼ pencil high. That needs to be reflected in the drawing correctly.

# 3 Create a LIGHT quick drawing

Another thing that you'll begin to do as you get more confident in your ability to draw is to quickly sketch out the entire composition in loose sketching that you can later "flesh out“ or darken as you complete the drawing.

You must keep it light so that its easy to change.

3. Emphasis

Definition: (center of interest) is an area that first attracts attention in a composition. This area is more important when compared to the other objects or elements in a composition.  This can be by contrast of values, more colors, and placement in the format.

Still life Composition

Still life refers to commonplace objects arranged in an artificial setting.

The idea is not to capture what you see, but to create an arrangement with a pleasing composition. 

The still life I have created for you is too large to draw the entire thing, this means you will be picking out a smaller area to draw.

I have created something called a viewfinder for you to use to find an interesting composition.

Compositional tips

1. Compositions are more interesting with an odd number of items. (your brain automatically pairs together objects, when your brain can’t find a pair for all of them it keeps searching through the image)

2. Compositions are also more interesting when you have different size objects.

Compositional tips

3. You can either have an asymmetrical composition :

Or a symmetrical composition:

Video of still life in pastel…http://www.artistsnetwork.com/articles/art-demos-techniques/pastel-pick-of-the-week-watch-a-still-life-develop-in-under-3-minutes

Day 1:

We will be creating THREE different compositions with our view finders.

This means you are thinking critically about your composition- I want to see variation in objects sizes, odd numbers of full objects and either a choice between symmetrical or asymmetrical setup.

Day 2 Once you choose your final composition you need to

choose your emphasis. Your emphasis will be done on another piece of paper so

that we can glue it onto your other paper making it pop off the page slightly. (you will still sketch the shape onto your large paper to set aside the area for the object you will glue on.)

You will then be transferring the entire sketch onto large paper using your new techniques and tips.

Your thumbnail sketch will help you with the idea of looking at the whole drawing and not just small spots at a time but I want to see everyone doing a very light sketch of where object should be. I also want to see everyone trying to create correct proportions with their pencil as a tool of measurement.

Day 3 Concentrate on your measurements- make specific fixes

on sizes and shapes that aren’t to proportion. Next solidify those light lines, add some areas of detail.

And sketch out the shapes of where your shadows might lie beneath your objects.

Day 3 You have established your composition You have drawn the general shape and detail of your still life. Now you

must add in your shadows. To do this you must pick a dark tone (preferably a dark earth tone like

brown, deep purple, deep blue) and begin to lightly fill in your shadows. When you are working with chalk pastels it is not good practice to start

your drawing using a black pastel or charcoal pencil as it will contaminate the purity and freshness of any colors applied over it. (image #2)

Once you have layed down your first set of shadow tones, darken the ones that need to be darkened (image #3)

Day 4: Establishing the Light Tones Next you establish the lightest areas of tone to heighten the three dimensional

qualities of the still life. The aim here is to create a balance between the light, dark and medium tones: the light tones rendered by the white chalk, the dark tones created by a blend of violet and burnt umber and the medium tones established by the neutral color of the paper. It is very important that you do not overwork the light and dark tones and leave enough of the paper exposed to accept the layers of colors that are yet to be applied.

A stick of white blackboard chalk was used to render the light tones. Blackboard chalk is harder than pastels and can be sharpened to a fine point to highlight the crisp edges and fine details of the objects. 

Day 5: Introducing color You now begin to introduce color to the still life in a series of layers,

applying the brightest layer first, the next brightest second, and so on towards the darkest. At this stage a layer of yellow was applied to the exposed areas of paper on those objects whose colors ranged between yellow and green.

Once you apply an area of color, gently soften its edges to subtly blend it into the light and dark tones.

Day 5: Building up color A layer of green was carefully blended into those objects which had a

greenish hue. Applying the green on top of the yellow gives the color a luminosity and complexity that you do not get from using a single color. 

As you blend the various layers of colors into the light and dark tones of the objects, you will notice that those tones begin to take on the correct light and dark tones for that color. The success of this technique largely depends on those colors that you choose for the dark tones at the start of the still life. Always test your colors before you start the still life to see what range of tones they can produce.