Lessons from the Klimt Puzzle.

Every Christmas we pull out a card table and build a puzzle or two as a family. This year one of the puzzles was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves by Scott Gustafson.

It was a beautiful thousand piece puzzle that took a few days but we were all bummed when there was a piece missing. I guess it really was a 999 piecer. To ease my disappointment, I cracked open the 250 piece puzzle of Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss" that I got in my stocking. I began later in the evening with no intention of completing the puzzle in one sitting, but everyone was heading to bed and it was quiet. I decided to push through. As I sorted the pieces and began to assemble it, I noticed a few things about the composition and hierarchy Klimt used which made "The Kiss" such a successful painting.

I began by gathering the dark pieces that made up the man's head of hair, the darkest area in the painting. It was also easy to sort out most of the pieces that made up the heads and arms and those were assembled next. After that I continued on to the profusion of pink and red flowers at the bottom of the painting. The distinct patterns of the fabrics were next with the brown tones of the background were left for the end. I searched for the edges that defined the silhouette of the figures and assembled them and picked out the geometric shapes and swirls.

What I realized was that I had assembled the puzzle in the order of visual hierarchy that I think Klimt intended. Klimt wanted the viewer to look at the heads first so he placed the most value contrast there. Also, the relative smoothness and lack of texture in the flesh tones contrast starkly with the busyness of the surrounding patterns. They act as areas of rest in the composition and therefore draw attention. It was a simple revelation but if I had not assembled the puzzle in one shot, I doubt I would have thought through why Klimt's painting is so appealing. So there you go. I guess art lessons are everywhere is you are looking for them.

Life Needs Art-Top 12 Instructional Posts

After over 430 posts and closing in on three years blogging, I figured it was time for a "best of" recap. Even though I hate most of those year end lists, I thought it might be helpful to new and long time followers alike to be able to revisit a few of my most popular posts. So, in no particular order are the posts that readers have found most helpful and/or have garnered the most hits.

1- Painting With Texture in Photoshop. This post explains how I create hand made textures, scan and then use them to paint digitally. This previous post also deals with the same topic.

2- Wyeth Shape Design Analysis. Here I break down what makes an N.C. Wyeth illustration from his Treasure Island series so successful.

3- 50 Thumbnails.  I explain the value, as Howard Pyle encouraged, of doing more (many more) exploratory thumbnail drawings than you think you might need.

4- Maintaining Tonal Zones. Here I describe how to keep the main masses of a painting distinct by isolating the values in their own zones.

5- Zorn Palette Exercise. Anders Zorn used a very limited palette to great effect. Here I describe how to try it yourself.

6- Master Illustrator Copy. I did a copy of a J.C. Leyendecker painting to explore what he did and why his work was so successful.

7- Eye Path Reverse Analysis.  I break down one of my own pieces based on Andrew Loomis' compositional tips as detailed in Creative Illustration.

8- Sticking to the Thumbnail Sketch. I outline why sticking to your thumbnail sketch is so important to the creation of a successful illustration.

9- George Bellows Limited Palette. I describe why George Bellows' simple color palette is so powerful.

10- Salvador Dali Portrait Demo. A simple portrait demo utilizing unusual color choices.

11- Inventing Color From Black And White Reference. In this demo, I take a black and white photo and paint it in four very different color palettes in a side by side comparison.

12- Using Gold (Metal) Leaf. This is a fun demonstration of how to use metal leaf for interesting decorative effect.

If you missed any of these posts or simply want to have another look, please enjoy!

Wyeth Shape Design Analysis

This week I broke down the shapes in N.C. Wyeth's Treasure Island endpaper illustration for my classes during a discussion about shape design. The hallmark of all great narrative artwork is effective composition and I think good composition hinges directly on strong shape design. When designing an attractive composition, it is very important to consider the following items: 

1. Positive shapes (the shape of the actual object you are depicting)
2. Negative Shapes (the shapes around those objects)
3. Masses of Light and Shadow
4. How these masses merge into larger shapes
5. How all of the above shapes and masses relate to one another

The top sketch shows a simple tracing of the major positive shape masses as well as the major shadow masses. See how simply Wyeth groups together his major forms in this piece.

Within those broad masses, are the shapes that define and separate the individual elements. In this case, the individual figures and details. This gives definition and nuance without breaking up the overall mass of the sihlouette.

The major light and dark tonal masses also act to define the individual forms. Note how many of the light and dark masses merge into one another when simplified.

Here is a posterized and desaturated version of the piece. More variation of shape is added to the broad shape and value relationships. to further strengthen the overall effect of the already effective shapes and silhouettes. No positive or negative shape is left unexamined. the result is an exciting and dynamic composition that jumps from the page and invites the viewer in.

By analyzing great paintings in depth, one can gain insights and new appreciation for the reasons why certain works are so appealing and effective. I think it all boils down to great shape design and composition.

See my master copy of this painting previously on Life Needs Art here

Composition Based On Shapes and Letters

Compositions can be based on many different shapes as demonstrated in Creative Illustration by Andrew Loomis. When thinking about possible compositions, it is sometimes helpful to analyze your subject by mentally breaking it down into it's most basic shape and form. Doing so will allow you to create a simplified map for where you want to take your composition.

Creative Illustration is out of print and expensive but a PDF version is posted here.

Eye Path Reverse Analysis

Autumn Rhapsody- Acrylic; 12" x 19"

Discussion in my class recently have revolved around composition and one of the things that came up was the importance of creating an eye path in your work. A composition should take the viewer on a visual journey through the piece. There should be logical points of emphasis and uncomfortable pauses, starts, stops and "eye traps" should be avoided. I frequently seem to fall back on my old favorite Creative Illustration by Andrew Loomis to explain these concepts.

From Creative illustration by Andrew Loomis- click to enlarge

This page in the book discusses the importance of a comfortable eye path, which if done correctly will effortlessly guide your viewer through the piece, prompting them to linger where you want and then continue on and enjoy secondary points of interest along the way.

I thought it would be interesting to do this same sort of analysis on one of my own pieces. Sort of a "reverse engineering" of my composition. In hind sight it was interesting to discover that in this piece from The Touch of the Master's Hand picture book I indeed followed the important guidelines laid out by Loomis. One such essential tool is to have elements that stop the eye from going out of the picture plane, or if something does lead you off, make sure there is another place where logical re-entry occurs. Of course there are other elements to creating a successful visual journey such as hierarchy of values among others, but understanding that as an artist you have complete control of the visual journey your viewer takes is a great first step toward powerful composition.

Creative Illustration PDF at Alex Hays' website