Lately I’ve been noticing how many good paintings and drawings use repeating shapes within them, a motif. This motif seems to carry us through the composition, and give harmony and order to the shapes. I recently stumbled across this original drawing by Diego Rivera, posted on Facebook by Paul Hemminger of Bellingham Frameworks. It’s full of repeating angles and shapes. You can see the repetitions in the colored lines I added here:
I’ve emphasized in orange the curve of the worker’s backs, the hats, the hands. The angle of the legs, the tool, the arms, and again the land, all arching at well placed and graceful intervals are grouped, emphasized here in red, green, and blue. Along the orange arches, the green lines fan out a bit, while the red lines stay exactly parallel. The counterbalancing opposite angle in the upper right keeps us in, and loosely mirrors the lines below the left figure. So many repetitions! Lovely piece.
Next time you see a work by a skilled artist, take a look and see how many repetitions you can find within the composition.
Paul Horiuchi 1906-1999 From Greg Kucera Gallery: It is said that Japanese artists invented collage over 800 years ago; some say Horiuchi perfected it. His work has been described as romantic, serene, and sensitive. Some say his collages have earned him the title Master of Collage. Horiuchi was born in Japan and at an early …
Gerhard Richter is a German painter, a rare genre splitter whose squeegee abstracts are just as respected and challenging as his photorealistic works. These candle paintings are oil on canvas, about 30 to 55 inches wide, painted in the 1980s.
My thoughts so far have separated this warped perspective into two potential causes. First, when we look directly at something such as a pipe or an architectural beam, when in front of us it appears to be straight, but if we don’t move our eyes, it might be that the object slightly bends in our …
Right now at the Seattle Art Museum, there’s a show of Alberto Giacometti‘s artworks. His drawings, paintings, and sculptures will be on display at SAM until October 9th. This is the second in a series of posts about Alberto Giacometti, who lived from 1901 – 1966. In the days since my last post about Alberto Giacometti’s brother …
Motif & Repetitions in a Diego Rivera
Lately I’ve been noticing how many good paintings and drawings use repeating shapes within them, a motif. This motif seems to carry us through the composition, and give harmony and order to the shapes. I recently stumbled across this original drawing by Diego Rivera, posted on Facebook by Paul Hemminger of Bellingham Frameworks. It’s full of repeating angles and shapes. You can see the repetitions in the colored lines I added here:
I’ve emphasized in orange the curve of the worker’s backs, the hats, the hands. The angle of the legs, the tool, the arms, and again the land, all arching at well placed and graceful intervals are grouped, emphasized here in red, green, and blue. Along the orange arches, the green lines fan out a bit, while the red lines stay exactly parallel. The counterbalancing opposite angle in the upper right keeps us in, and loosely mirrors the lines below the left figure. So many repetitions! Lovely piece.
Next time you see a work by a skilled artist, take a look and see how many repetitions you can find within the composition.
Related Posts
Paul Horiuchi
Paul Horiuchi 1906-1999 From Greg Kucera Gallery: It is said that Japanese artists invented collage over 800 years ago; some say Horiuchi perfected it. His work has been described as romantic, serene, and sensitive. Some say his collages have earned him the title Master of Collage. Horiuchi was born in Japan and at an early …
Gerhard Richter: Candles
Gerhard Richter is a German painter, a rare genre splitter whose squeegee abstracts are just as respected and challenging as his photorealistic works. These candle paintings are oil on canvas, about 30 to 55 inches wide, painted in the 1980s.
My Warped Point of View
My thoughts so far have separated this warped perspective into two potential causes. First, when we look directly at something such as a pipe or an architectural beam, when in front of us it appears to be straight, but if we don’t move our eyes, it might be that the object slightly bends in our …
Giacometti: More about Diego
Right now at the Seattle Art Museum, there’s a show of Alberto Giacometti‘s artworks. His drawings, paintings, and sculptures will be on display at SAM until October 9th. This is the second in a series of posts about Alberto Giacometti, who lived from 1901 – 1966. In the days since my last post about Alberto Giacometti’s brother …