"There’s no
way
your
paintings can’t
improve
after
this course"
"I’ve been painting on my own for a while and thought I was doing okay. Now that I’m taking this course I see so many things I can learn from that will make my work so much better. This is the stuff you can’t get in art school anymore, sadly. There’s no way your paintings can’t improve after this course. That’s how strongly I feel about it." ... Bob Akers., Crystal Lake, IL, United States
"...really superb"
"I find your courses really superb in two ways: first they are very complete and comprehensive, and second they go straight to the point, to the essentials. Both my wife and I paint and we both agree that these art instruction courses are one of the best sources of education for people who want to learn to paint in a direct or alla prima style" Bernado Martin, Alicante, Spain.
Erika is
following
her dream
"This course is truly well run, professionally handled -- and I can only echo the great comments of other students: I am glad, I enrolled in this course!! I got so much out of it already -- lots of explanations, areas to study up on, other artists to learn from. AND I am not at the end of the course, yet. I am getting more and more confident and bold enough to follow my dream -- to become a proficient and sensitive artist.
Erika, USA, 2009
"...already noticed
improvement
in
my work"
"In my opinion, your material is the best I have found. It builds the basics, from the ground up, recognizing that there are no short cuts.....Your course puts all the right info into one package, and even more important, it gives me an organized, building block way to get these things into my head, and I have already noticed an improvement in my work," George, USA
What is included in the Composition Building Block?
Many students think that they know a lot about composition and first purchase the Color or Brushwork Building Blocks, thinking that is what is wrong with their paintings. Nearly always they are wrong. Partly this is because composition in most books on painting is treated very superficially, when in fact it is a very broad and highly complex subject. Composition is the essence of the painting , not something you do to make the painting better. In fact you cannot distinguish the painting and the composition. They are one and the same thing.
It is always the composition that distinguishes the masters from the amateurs, and the competition prize winners from the rest. This set of course units goes into depth into all the key concepts of design and composition. They describe all the major principles and illustrate each of them with both examples of how to do it, and how not to do it.
Some of the things you will learn:
Space division: how to layout the space in your painting effectively, including principles such as the Golden Mean, rabatment of the rectangle, overlapping form, transitions, right angles, and counterpoint
Focal Points: how to increase the interest in your painting using techniques such as active versus passive, primary and seconday focal areas, when and where to use detail effectively
Eye Pathways: how to control your viewer's eye movement to increase interest in your paintings
Design: critical elements such as shape variety, rhythm, balance , repetition, and variety
Line: the element of line in your composition and how to take advantage of it
Jacqueline
Spain
"The material is very well presented and easy to understand - no lengthy explanations but short and condensed paragraphs with a load of very valuable information. Along with plenty of illustrations, this makes it a fun and easy study."
What is included in each course unit?
Unit 1 - Space Division 1
It does not matter how well you can draw or render, without a powerful underlying abstract design concept, your painting is nothing more than illustration. Space division, or how you break up the space in your painting, is one of the key foundations of this abstract design. If you who rely on selling your work, good composition it is probably one of the most important factors in helping making your paintings sell. For example, use the relationship of the boundary to the interior to support a line, create interesting negative shapes, and create a feeling of space. See how the stern of the boat in this painting buttresses against the left border of the painting, giving solidity to the painting.
This course covers many of the key ideas and principles of space division, including techniques such as the rabatment of the rectangle and golden section used by Degas, one of the masters of space division. In this course you will learn:
how to use a viewfinder to limit your field of vision and give you more abstract design options
what to do and what not to do when cropping your subject
a creative way to subdivide a space when composing an image that ensures an interesting space division
ideas for how to come up with creative designs and painting compositions
why the edges of your painting are important to consider and what to look for
the magic Golden Section and how to use it
the rabatment of the rectangle: another magic principle of space division to improve your painting composition
Unit 2 - Space Division 2
For your next painting, think carefully about how to divide the main spaces and how you link them together. Make good use of baselines (the line that defines the bottom of objects) to convey a three-dimensional feel to the spaces in your painting. Overlapping forms further help to create a three-dimensional feeling. You can use techniques such as having two lines meet at right angles to add strength to the composition and the principle of tie together to make the composition appear less disjointed.Less experienced painters tend to make the same mistakes, such as tangents and equal space division. By avoiding these problems your paintings will look more professional.
This unit continues the exploration of the subject of space division to improve your painting composition. You will learn:
the principles of baselines and ground contours that will help give your landscapes depth and make them more convincing
how to use foregrounds and the concept of 'walk room'
how to use overlapping forms to give your landscapes depth and help to clarify the forms in your painting
common problems with overlapping forms
how to use right angles to give strength and solidity to your painting compositions
the importance of shape simplification to strengthen your design
the problems of tangents and how to avoid them
how to use the technique of 'tie together' to bring your painting composition into a more unified design
the key principle of unequal space division
Unit 3 - Focal Points
Many beginners and amateurs look at a scene and are inspired to paint all of it, but that leaves the painting without any focus. Direct your viewer to one part of your painting by making the focal point or focal area more interesting. You only need one primary center of interest. For example, when painting marine scenes, if you are interested primarily in the ocean, tone the sky down and simplify it so it doesn't detract from the ocean. Conversely, if you are primarily interested in the sky, tone down the sea. This painting has a staccato focal point (a small point or line that the viewer's eye gravitates towards in the painting) of the two figures.
In this unit you will learn a range of techniques for creating a focal point or focal area, in order to give your work more variety and make the painting composition more interesting for the viewer. You will learn:
the difference between staccato focal points and focal areas
how to increase the interest of a painting by adding a secondary focal area
how to use contrast of shape and direction in focal areas
the role color saturation plays in focal points and focal areas
how to use the contrast of light and dark to create a focal area
four tips when using directing lines to enhance your focal areas
how to use isolation to draw attention to a part of your painting composition
the role space division plays in creating natural and logical positions for focal points and focal areas
the principle of one-thirds in positioning focal points
the use of contrast of temperature for creating focal areas and examples of its use
Unit 4 - Eye Movement
You may be able to create an eye-catching painting, but you need to keep the viewer looking at it and finding interest in it for more than just a moment. If you provide a pathway for the eye to follow, the longer a viewer is drawn to look at your painting, and the more interesting that painting is to them. Your goal is to keep the viewer's interest by keeping their eye moving around the painting composition, and at the same time preventing the eye leaving the painting or getting trapped in one spot. See how the eye is moved around the painting of Bastia Harbor, keeping the viewer's interest.
This unit will help you learn how to keep the viewer's interest in your painting composition. You will learn:
how to use the space around shapes to aid the eye movement
the five most common pitfalls students make relating to eye movement
the use of 'C', 'S', and 'O' forms as plans for eye movement
how to create eye movement in three dimensions
how to use color to keep the viewer's eye moving around the painting composition
how to prevent the viewer's eye leaving the painting or getting trapped in one spot
the technique of linking lights to enhance the eye movement paths
the technique of guiding lights and darks to help keep the viewer's eye moving
entering points and what to avoid when using them
the relationship between density of space division and eye movement
Unit 5 - Variety
Look at landscapes painted by beginners and amateurs and you will see evenly spaced trees and mountains. You need to create variety in your shapes. As you divide your painting, ensure that there is variety in the shape created by the divisions and avoid creating equal sized shapes. Notice how the trees in this painting composition are all different angles and widths and unevely spaced, leaving different negative shapes.
Variety and unity is the goal of good painting composition. This is a very complicated subject and is at the heart of every masterpiece. It cannot be reduced to simple formulas, but there are many good starting points that will help you achieve the all important goal of unity with variety. In this course you will learn:
the importance of shape variety and some common pitfalls in positioning shapes in your painting composition
how to use repetition to build unity in your work and what to avoid
a quick technique for seeing the abstract quality in your painting composition
the principle of using active and passive areas to make your work more interesting and at the same time more mysterious together with examples of the principle in action
the principle of inequality to prevent your painting composition becoming boring
the use of odd numbered groups to add interest to your painting composition
the principle of 'threes' and what to avoid when applying the principle
Unit 6 - Line
If you are not careful, your paintings of boats in a harbor, cityscapes and other subjects that have a lot of straight lines can be very dull if all the lines go in one direction. By adding a line going in the opposite direction, a counterpoint, you both emphasize the other lines and at the same time prevent the eye sliding out of the picture. This also creates a type of 'balance' in the work. In this painting of Giudecca, Venice, the crane in the distance is painted at a ninety degree angle to the wharf, creating a counterpoint.
This unit explores the role of line and linear relationships in compositional arrangement. You will learn:
the principle of graceful line and why exaggeration is sometimes important
how to use interrelationship of line when designing shapes in your painting composition to give your design a hidden strength
the importance of creating transitions between shapes, and lessons from ancient architecture
the principle of counterpoint and how to create more 'balance' in your painting composition
how to use line and linear brushwork to suggest action and turbulence
how to apply the principle of rhythym to improve unity and interest in your painting composition
What does this cost?
This building block course is equivalent to a 2 week study course with a professional artist which can cost up to $3000 including travel and accommodation. Many of our students tell us this is the most comprehensive teaching they have found anywhere on the internet. Read their testimonials.
Complete Set of
'Composition'
Course Units
$90USD
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