Last week, I promised to give you an explanation of the seven principles of design. Well, upon reflection, I decided that I didn’t need to recreate the wheel when it comes to talking about this vast subject. Instead I am going to refer you to a website that I found helpful which explains these principles in an easy to understand way (with diagrams) and much, much better than I ever could. Here are the 7 Principles of Design…
1. Balance
2. Gradation
3. Repetition
4. Contrast
5. Harmony
6. Dominance
7. Unity
I found visiting John Lovett, a watercolourist and mixed media painter’s website a good use of my time. It helped me gain some insight and knowledge into what was “mystery meat” for me LOL around the design principles of art. If this is something that you have wondered about as well, stop by his site for a visit.
Even though I wasn’t interested in learning how to paint with watercolours, at least not right now , I found reading through some of the “lessons” on his site helped me look at my art and that of others in a much different way. It certainly gave me some food for thought! His explanations and accompanying lessons are simple and straightforward.
You don’t need to know the “jargon” of the “painting world” to benefit from what he has to say. Visit his gallery once you have gone through his “lessons”. I found that studying and looking closer at his paintings and drawings LAST helped to solidify what I learned in his virtual classroom lessons.
Learning about the different elements and principles and how they are applied to art certainly doesn’t qualify as an “art education”. However, I feel I am more knowledgeable than when I first started out on this quest and...
* It has challenged me to do and look at art from a new perspective.
* The biggest payoff has been learning how to be more spontaneous and “play” with the elements in my compositions.
* I have simplified my compositions which makes me feel good.
* I hate clutter and I found the answer to why I skip over cluttered art of any kind. It's hard for me to even look at simply because there is too much "going on". I don't seem to be able to discern the simple "beauty"/story and it frustrates me to no end just looking at a piece with an overabundance of elements.
* In creating art, I seem to have lost the need to keep fiddling with my work in order to get it “right”... that is a good thing...it's made the creation process much more enjoyable.
I’d be interested in hearing about your experiences with your art, even any tips you can pass along or other places to visit on the web that could further my/our “education”. Please don’t be shy. Shoot me an email and let me know what you have found useful for you and has helped you to “move to the next level” in your art. I'd love to get a list together of resources and "what works" in order to to share it with all of myStoryArt readers.
Thanks for stopping by today to say hi and brighten up my life! Being a solar powered “kid”, this is not my favourite time of the year in Victoria. Windy gales, cold, winter rain and short gray days are upon us once again (hey it’s Halloween this week… it’s right on schedule). I am grateful for every bit of *sunshine* that enters my life from the end of October onwards until the soft light of Spring peeks through the windows once again.
Here’s some sunshine that entered my life this morning. This U-tube video made me smile… check it out, you’ll smile too! Might even make you wish you had a set of stairs like this in your house. That's the only clue I am giving you... chuckle, chuckle.
Until we meet again next week…I wish you have a splendid, adventurous week filled with the fun of ghosts, goblins, pumpkins and chocolate.
Happy Halloween,
Sharon