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Extreme Composition Lesson 1

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108 views8 pages

Extreme Composition Lesson 1

Uploaded by

judyjunk1952
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Extreme Composition: Lesson 1 1!

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Introduction
!
In this course we will be exploring elements of visual vocabulary - line, shape, color, for
example - and then developing compositions in series that ....
!
In some lessons we will consider Unity and Variety (in the extreme), Focal Area (or lack
thereof), Balance (or imbalance), and other aspects of compositions outlined in your
handout. In other lessons we’ll simply be working with a specific visual vocabulary and
exploring compositional possibilities.
!
!
In each of these lessons I encourage you
to explore the extremes, not the safe zone
or the “balanced” composition. Find the
place where unity falls apart in favor of
variety or vice versa; where focal area is
obliterated; where a composition looks out
of balance. The point is to explore the
components of visual expression to see
how they relate to each other and to the
composition as a whole.
!
Lesson 1: Line
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In this lesson we will be exploring line,
and paying particular attention to how
line relates to itself, the edges of the page,
how different lines relate to each other,
and how lines relate to a painted ground.
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Explorations
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1.Exploring Line for Variety and
Expressive Qualities
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This is a preliminary exercise which you
may have already done if you’ve taken
Sketchbook Practice. Consider it optional.
However, if you have never explored your
drawing materials in this way, I highly recommend it.
!
Make lines across a page in as many different materials as you have. In the example to
the right, from top to bottom the materials used are: oil pastel, pencil, Pitt pen with
brush tip, felt-tip pen, 2B graphite, 9B graphite, china marker (or grease pencil), water-

copyright Jane Davies Studios


Extreme Composition: Lesson 1 2
!
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Lines with India Ink

soluble graphite pencil, charcoal,


watercolor crayon (Caran d’Ache
Neocolor II), watercolor pencil. !
! Wandering Line
!
In the video I also demonstrate two ways
of making lines with India ink. Try those
techniques with any kind of ink or
watercolor. We are looking for quality of
line, so stick to black and grey; we’ll
explore color in Lesson 3.
!
!
2. Wandering Line
!Watch the next section of the video on
“Wandering Line”. Try this on a comfortable
size of paper (I’m using 9”x12” cheap
drawing paper), and do at least several
versions of it using different drawing
materials. The point here is to pay attention
to how the line relates to itself and to the
edges of the page. It can:
!
• create shapes
• describe a journey

copyright Jane Davies Studios


Extreme Composition: Lesson 1 3
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• cross itself
• run parallel to its previous path
• graze itself, or create a tangent to itself
• create dense areas of shapes and loops
• create large, spacious area
!
Move your drawing instrument s l o w l y, as I do in the video, and see what the line
does to the page.

!
3. Line Dance
!
In this exercise we start with one of your
Wandering Line drawings. Watch the video
and proceed as demonstrated. Create a second
line - preferably in a different color or a
contrasting material - and let it wander,
mindfully, in relation to the previous line, as
well as in relation to itself and to the edges of
the page.

!
Here are two examples of the Line Dance.

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copyright Jane Davies Studios
Extreme Composition: Lesson 1 4
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4. Line Dance over painted ground


1. Watch the next section of the video
and create a painted ground. Do
several of these. Remember to keep
the edges soft and color contrasts
low.!
!
2. First create a Wandering Line over the
painted ground, letting your line pay
attention to its relationship to the
painted ground. !
!
3. Now do a second line, creating a Line
Dance. This second line addresses
its relationship to the first line, to the
painted ground, and to itself.!
!
!

!
Each line addresses the painted ground
beneath, but does not slavishly outline
shapes, or emphasize transitions. The
line can do its own thing, as well as play
with the other elements.

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copyright Jane Davies Studios
Extreme Composition: Lesson 1 5
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Here are two more examples of the line


dance on painted ground.
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Compositions
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1. Preliminary Studies
!
Now that you have explored line and how it relates to a few other elements of
composition (other lines, painted ground, edges of the page), I want you to create
compositions in which line is the primary element. Your total vocabulary includes lines
made with any drawing material or paint, and painted grounds in which transitions
between colors are very soft. No hard-edged shapes. Your lines may describe shapes,
but don’t enhance the shape aspect by coloring them in.
!
Do several of these as exploratory studies, without any particular direction. See what
kind of line vocabulary develops. What tools do you prefer? What colors of paint?
Which brushes? What size of paper do you like to work on? Make as many of these
studies as it takes to establish a few preferences.
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copyright Jane Davies Studios
Extreme Composition: Lesson 1 6
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Ba
Wo
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Here are a few of my


preliminary studies, using line
as a primary element. For
the line work I used Pitt pen,
white gel pen, watercolor
crayon, and paint.

copyright Jane Davies Studios


Extreme Composition: Lesson 1 7
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2. Working in a Series
!
Create a series of compositions that explore similar visual vocabulary - color, line,
material, scale. Not every piece in the series has to include everything - each material,
color, shape, line type, etc. But limiting your elements, colors, materials, will give you
parameters within which to work, and room to explore their potential.
!
In the three pieces below (chosen from eight in the series), I chose a color range for the
painted ground: white, gray, quinacridone gold, and purple. My lines are made with a
brush (watered down black acrylic paint), two sizes of Pitt pens, and the white gel pen. I
used wandering-type lines as well as enclosed amorphous organic shapes. This
constitutes the vocabulary of my series.
!
We are explicitly NOT concerned about focal
point, balance, etc. This is more like an open
ended exploration than a series of finished
pieces. DO discipline yourself to stick with the
vocabulary you have chosen (in these pieces I
was dying to use solid shapes, more colors,
more different kinds of lines, etc., but
refrained), and keep it simple. Do more pieces
rather than more complex pieces. We’ll get to
complexity soon enough, as well as finished
compositions.
!
Don’t forget to have fun!


copyright Jane Davies Studios


Extreme Composition: Lesson 1 8
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Here are two examples of students’ series:

copyright Jane Davies Studios

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