Fellow artist, Sally Schisler, just asked this question about the Twachtman paintings I posted, “After looking at them for a bit, it occurs to me that my eye falls very close to center. Aren’t we not supposed to do that? Many times when I’m close to finishing a painting, I realize that I have created shapes/lines – etc. – that lead me right to the center….. I admittedly obsess over whether a thing feels balanced or not. And I simply do not agree with the ‘avoid center’ train of thought.”
I love a good question, and I agree with your not agreeing. I’ve consulted the staff here at MyOpinion University and we’ve come up with a short dissertation on the dominant/subordinate rule in painting and why you use it… or not. As rules go, it’s a good one. I think the consensus of “centered is boring” is not without merit but the trick is to know why you are deciding to go one direction or another. Edgar Payne was a master of composition, his paintings are about leading the eye (eye flow) by creating a hierarchy in the painting. Making one thing dominant through scale or color or value, placing something else for your eye to go to next and so on. The main event dead center doesn’t leave many places for your eye to go and can be kinda boring…. in the wrong hands.
Here’s a perfect example of creating eye flow through the dominant/subordinate rule. Scale and value of boat number one draws you in, secondary scale and contrasting value takes you to number two, and for balance there’s boat number three and then you go back again to boat one. So not only is there a clear path for the eye to navigate, there is a kind of balance between the elements. I often think about a painting as having a fulcrum point and all of the elements in the composition having varying degrees of weight. If you know where your fulcrum point is you can alter the scale or color or weight of each piece to create balance and counter-balance.
Conversely, there’s Giorgio Morandi, a painter held in high regard and in almost any major contemporary collection you can think of. He had a tendency to place things in the middle without any supporting elements. But then, eye flow is not what his paintings are about. Instead of creating a compelling hierarchy in his work, he would suppress detail, space and volume to allow the viewer to concentrate on what was really important, the interplay of surface, shape and color.
Now I say there’s no hierarchy in these, but there really is, it’s just a more subtle, somber approach. And though the elements tend to be gathered in the center, nothing is dead center. If there is something dead center, then there’s a quiet counter-point to move you around. Likewise, Twachtman’s painting below has the center of interest in the center, but it’s not really, it’s down low and slightly off to one side with plenty to act as counter weight. The degree of hierarchy can depend on what your painting is about. I saw a small painting by Wayne Theibaud of a piece of watermellon floating centered in a field of creamy white. Didn’t bother me a bit because it was so beautifully painted.
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In the midst of a good snow here with a fire in the fireplace, a glass of good Scotch and posts like this to read, does it get any better? I think not!
More snow tonight. Maybe I’ll pull out Payne’s Composition of Outdoor Painting,” for awhile, then Google some paintings by Twatchman, etc. Happy to be in the tribe.
Still t-shirt weather here. I wouldn’t mind a little snow…. under my snowbaord.
Paynes book is a great tool but kind of a tough read.
The tough read part is where the Scotch comes in.
The part I dislike most about the book is flipping back and forth to find the illustrations he talks about. But each time I read it, like Carlson’s book, I find something I’d missed or that didn’t register in an earlier reading. Googling the paintings is the fun part, like looking through your website. Again, I find new things of note each time.
Snow here is up to six inches and shows no sign of slowing through the night. Maybe you need to hit the FL coast and the surfboard.
it is a great book, a must have for the painters library. Just that it’s written in the old style of writing. But always worth having.
I may be hitting the surf soon as a matter of fact.
One thing about Payne that I forgot to mention is that he was a prolific painter. His work is all over california, every gallery has something he did.
Great insight Larry. Your blog is like an online course in everything art. Little bit of this – little it of that… Good stuff.
This middle of the canvas thing got me thinking. It seems it’s OK (to me anyway) to have the movement/eye direction of a painting cross at an intersection that is central. Like in your post ‘Carmel redux’. The curves of the left and right rock groups intersect at middle pretty closely, save for an inch or so.
I have this habit of ‘conducting’ a 3 or 4 beat bar of music over the canvas when I start a painting (left over from many years of studying music). Maybe that’s why my own focal points often fall in the middle. Goes along with feeling balanced I guess.
i used to have a habit of stacking everything to the right. When i go into a painting now i intentionally look/strive for something I haven’t done. Plus doing little sketches first to explore doesn’t hurt either.
There’s kind of an old trick where you divide the canvas into thirds both vertically and horizontally then put your focal point in one of the intersections. Keeps it from dead center and incorporates the golden section (mean).
Yes – I should remember these things – but my forgetter gets in the way. I’m heading over to the Polasek today to paint. I think. If I don’t get distracted along the way. Since I have the time without the kids, I’ll work a little more intentionally with the rules of thumb in mind – see what I come up with. I should probably take Carlson with me.
Just read about the Klimt book from the link above. Maybe I’ll check that out too.
Not sure which link you are referring to but if it’s the Klimt landscape book, that’s a must have, if you ask me. That guy was a design genius.