Painting under the Microscope

'Stillness' Acrylic painting by Tania Williams

Sometimes paintings can look deceptively simple, yet you may be surprised by the amount of thought that has gone into it.

Those flowers on the wall (left), are they for decoration?  Do they symbolise something mysterious and enigmatic?  Or maybe their function is purely practical.  Well the answer could very well be all of the above.  But in this instance the answer is very simple, and we shall return to answer this later.

Today I am going  to put my recent painting Stillness, (which is my interpretation of a lovely wooden statue found at Angkor Wat in Cambodia) under the microscope in order to illustrate some very practical techniques you can use to UNIFY your paintings.  Scroll down to see original photo.  Previously we talked about the various elements which make a painting successful.  These included colour harmonies and various contrasts such as that between complimentary colours,  hues, brightness, values, and textures.

I am going to illustrate some of these techniques now, and I am also going to introduce you to two more techniques which will help you  to create even more balance in your painting;  horizontal and vertical lines and the Art of Repetition.  I also want to briefly talk about the Feeling  of a painting and its importance.  But first lets look at how I have used the technique of Contrast to add interest.

Original photo of Angkor Wat Statue

As you may know, contrast is very important in any painting.  It makes the viewer want to explore the painting further.  In Stillness I have used contrast in several ways to help to add this interest.

The most obvious use of contrast is probably that between the 2 complimentary colours of blue and orange, which is also a contrast between cool and warm. Then there is the contrast  between  purple and yellow, which are also complimentary colours. If you remember, complimentary colours produce a very strong contrast and effective combination when used next to each other.  There is also a noticeable contrast between light and dark, and finally the more subtle contrast between the wooden texture on the figure and the slightly softer and grainier  background.

Feeling of painting

It is important to consider the feeling you want to portray in your painting.  There are several ways to do this, ie with line, texture and colour.  In stillness I  chose to have a large area of blue in order to enhance the general theme and feeling of the painting, which is one of tranquility.  I choose orange/gold for the statue, despite it being wooden, as I wanted to give it some warmth as well as the impression of it being very valuable, as in the association with gold.   I wanted it to be calm and peaceful but, at the same time I also wanted it to have some energy, hence the strong contrast with the complimentary blue and orange.

Horizontal and vertical lines

A further way to  unify a painting is to balance horizontal and vertical lines. If you look a the large blue area to the right of the figure you will notice the subtle shape of a window sill.  I’m going to let you in or a little secret here.  I didn’t particularly need a window there, but what I was after was a horizontal line to help balance out the vertical lines in the paintings, but I didn’t want it to be to obvious as I wanted to keep the simplicity of the composition, so I settled for a very subtle impression of a window sill to achieve this.

The Art of Repetition

By repeating certain elements in your painting you are effectively pulling it together, or relating the various parts to each other.  This gives the feeling of UNITY in your painting.   For example you can repeat certain colours, shapes, textures or any element found in your painting. It doesn’t even have to be a significant part of the painting.

“So to answer the question ‘what are the flowers doing on the wall?”  Take another look at the painting.  See if you can see those flowers anywhere else in the painting?  Thats right – on the head dress.  Although they are not an important part of the painting, their appearance elsewhere, helps to unify the painting as a whole. They also ad interesting textural elements to the painting.

If you look at the background shape of the wall panel with the flowers on it, you may notice that it is suspiciously similar to the shape of the head dress.  I can assure you this is no accident either.  And, if you look even closer, you will see that all the colours in the background have been repeated on the figure itself, such as the reds and purples of the wall panel as well as the blue of the background.  And likewise, the yellow and orange of the figure, have been repeated in the wall panel above the window.

So if you want your next painting to be a Masterpiece, give some thought to these useful techniques, and I guarantee you will be surprised at the  result.  I would love to hear how you get on.

Until next time…