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.
I never stop being inspired by art and ideas—they’re always there, bouncing around on my desk, waiting to be shared. After a long pause of wishing I were publishing, I’m tentatively restarting. V. Notes will be different this time: smaller, more in-the-moment—little ideas pulled straight from my desk, shared when time and energy allow. A …
[image_with_animation image_url=”8323″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Photo from apartycrasher.biz/pages/baglady.html Every day I watch students waddle in, and waddle out of class, overloaded with heavy bags full of painting supplies. Brushes, paint tubes, mediums, containers, paper towels, canvases…. It’s a lot to carry! And how many times have you gotten all the way to the studio …
MoMA Curator Sarah Suzuki on How Dieter Roth Invented the Artist’s Book By Andrew M. Goldstein JUNE 20, 2013 Dieter Roth in his studio Today the artist’s book—a medium combining image and text in a book-like package but meant to be engaged with as art rather than read—is a widely known and wildly popular format, …
The first annual Seattle Artist League Portrait Contest encourages artists to focus on and develop the theme of portraiture in their work. The competition is open to everyone aged sixteen and over, in recognition of the outstanding and innovative work in drawing, painting, printmaking, and mixed media. 1st Prize: $1,000 cash2nd Prize: $500 SAL Gift Certificate3rd Prize: $300.00 SAL …
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=”8323″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Photo from apartycrasher.biz/pages/baglady.html Every day I watch students waddle in, and waddle out of class, overloaded with heavy bags full of painting supplies. Brushes, paint tubes, mediums, containers, paper towels, canvases…. It’s a lot to carry! And how many times have you gotten all the way to the studio …
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