Jan 4 - Oops! Not Finished yet!! Round Puppies

Oops, got ahead of myself! (I just get so excited about sharing information.) Here's the pup painting at the second stage, where I'm laying in the darks of the dogs' coats and reinforcing the design elements.

Remember what I said about circular design, and Raphael's work? Since you may not have a familiarity with these design concepts, I've added a second image of this stage of the painting below, taken into Photoshop and with what I see as the abstract structure of the design. Those of you who have had a session or two of "yellin' by Elin" know that design and the structure of your paintings are key to good end results.

In the second image, you'll see the most obvious circles in the design (in red), clearly understandable my Mr. or Ms. Everyone. They may not say, "Oooo, nice circles!" but they will say that they like the painting.

Look now at the partial circles (also known as arcs) that are intersecting the picture (done in purple). These are the supporting design players, but every bit as important in their role. These arcs carry the eye through the work, and reinforce the three main circles. Think of them as the band behind the lead singer. They enhance and reinforce the most obvious circles. These purple lines of the design also show the viewer repetition with variety--more design principles worth having in successful paintings. As your eye follows the purple lines, look where they cross areas of the paintings, and see how those areas continue to carry your eyes. What I'm saying is that we as artists don't have to be obvious with our abstract structure, but it ought to be there.

More tomorrow!

Oh, the link for the March workshop: Three Day Mini-Color Boot Camp is here.


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