I have been working on learning composition lately. I started by reading chapter 2 from
Classical Painting Atelier by Juliette Aristides over and over again, steeping myself in the principles. I've gotten very good at drawing the armature of the rectangle over my thumbnails so I can see if the focus of my composition is on one of the intersections of the angles.
I also wanted to try higher key paintings with patterns on the fabric this week. My first choice was a large print gingham tablecloth my daughter calls "the picnic blanket". Just one problem, can you guess? The colors of the cloth and the apples clash too much! The lack of harmony is like a discordant chord set in an odd place in music so your ear cringes at the sound. I always imagined it was the orchestra's equivalent of sticking it's tongue out in disgust. Now I'm more visual and picture a cat's flinching face when confronted with a sharp noise or spray of water. I guess this, #51, is a visual version of such discord.
So then, of course, being the tenacious perfectionist I am, I had to try it again. This time I chose a different tablecloth , much to my daughter's delight as she wanted to play picnic today. The second cloth is patterned with birds and branches, but the colors were more harmonizing. Composition lesson learned - angles are good, but harmony in all things is needed!
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