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.
[image_with_animation image_url=”9625″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] STARTS TODAY. Each day for the month of June I’ll post a creative challenge. Set your own goal for what you’d like to do. Follow the work on Facebook. Creativity is it’s own reward, but participants also enter to win League gift certificates. Does that help with motivation? PRIZES AWARDED WEEKLY: …
Today is the 24th day of our 30 day creative challenge. Tuesday is specifically a sequence challenge so there is an extra option to respond with multiple frames if you wish. Make something inspired by a sneeze. Share your drawing on Instagram with these tags: #30sal, #sneeze Or post to this Padlet
Bernard Leach (1887–1979) holds a pivotal role in ceramics, often cited as the “Father of British Studio Pottery.” Born in Hong Kong and educated in England, he made significant contributions to the field during his years in Japan. There, he became close friends with Shoji Hamada, another transformative figure in pottery. Their collaborative work was …
Have you heard Keith’s news? …Before I can share the news, just in case you missed my previous V. Note about Nicolás Uribe, I should tell you who he is. Nicolás Uribe is a world famous painter currently based in Bogotá, Colombia. He is known especially for his portraits, and has a youtube channel to which …
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.
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[image_with_animation image_url=”9625″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] STARTS TODAY. Each day for the month of June I’ll post a creative challenge. Set your own goal for what you’d like to do. Follow the work on Facebook. Creativity is it’s own reward, but participants also enter to win League gift certificates. Does that help with motivation? PRIZES AWARDED WEEKLY: …
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Today is the 24th day of our 30 day creative challenge. Tuesday is specifically a sequence challenge so there is an extra option to respond with multiple frames if you wish. Make something inspired by a sneeze. Share your drawing on Instagram with these tags: #30sal, #sneeze Or post to this Padlet
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