Pathways are directional marks and shapes for our eyes to follow across a 2 dimensional artwork. They are a powerful compositional tool to keep the viewer’s eyes engaged and moving around a composition. They’re also great for artists to practice, because they emphasize that if we’re to think compositionally, each part must play a role within the greater whole.
Connecting these pathways to the edge of the rectangle makes us more aware of the boundary of the picture plane and how it’s interacting with each of the elements within.
Today’s COMPOSITIONAL Challenge:
Create a still life in which various shapes and sizes of objects connect, and lead you around the rectangle with many unexpected pathway options. Remember, pathways don’t always have to be objects themselves. They can be something like the edge of a shadow shape or a contour line across a surface. #pathwaystotherectangle
Tip: Draw a rectangle inside your paper or photo, or be very careful how you take your photograph, to be very intentional about how the pathways interact with the boundary around them.
Freebie: No need to draw the pathways on your work as I have with red in the example below. Just build the scene with drawing, painting, photography, collage, or assemblage – and post it.
Red line shows example of one pathway of many across this rectangle.
Thank you to NYSS teacher Jonathan Harkham and Fran O’Neill for teaching me the power of pathways to the rectangle. I had learned about pathways in art school but I thought they were stupid, and the idea was outdated by a few hundred years. But after Fran taught me new ways to see and draw, I see how contemporary and powerful pathways can be. They totally changed the way I approach my artwork! Here’s a 5′ drawing I did in our last in-studio workshop in February 2020. This was giant figures with Fran O’Neill. I have never enjoyed drawing more than I did that day. I drew for 6 hours, and did not want to ever stop!
Ruthie V. (2020) vine charcoal on Arches cold press 90lb watercolor paper, approx 50×60″
To be eligible for prizes (yes prizes!) at the end of the month, post your work to Instagram with #30sal and #pathwaystotherectangle so we can find your post.
To find more followers for your page, you can cut/paste these to your post:
Welcome to the 30SAL Creative Challenge! Broaden your creative skills Every day this January we’ll post a creative challenge to our V. Notes blog. Subscribers will receive these posts in their inbox. Designed to foster a wide variety of creative skills, our challenges are not restricted to any style or genre, and medium is artist’s …
Yankee Doodle The paintings are credited to Archibald Willard. Color and composition versions, oddly varied, are the contributions of the internets. The original (dutch) nonsense words to “our” Yankee Doodle song: Yanker, didel, doodle down, Diddle, dudel, lanther, Yanke viver, voover vown, Botermilk und tanther. From Wikipedia:The term Doodle first appeared in English in the early seventeenth century[7] and is thought …
Helen Rae (1938-2020)“Her drawings, in colored pencil and graphite, are immediately striking for their vivid imagery, resonant use of color and innovative reworking of source material. Using fashion advertisements as a point of departure for otherworldly journeys into the subconscious, Helen transforms the original images into something uniquely expressive, which possess a strange beauty and …
Day 24: Pathways to the Rectangle #30SAL
Pathways are directional marks and shapes for our eyes to follow across a 2 dimensional artwork. They are a powerful compositional tool to keep the viewer’s eyes engaged and moving around a composition. They’re also great for artists to practice, because they emphasize that if we’re to think compositionally, each part must play a role within the greater whole.
Connecting these pathways to the edge of the rectangle makes us more aware of the boundary of the picture plane and how it’s interacting with each of the elements within.
Today’s COMPOSITIONAL Challenge:
Create a still life in which various shapes and sizes of objects connect, and lead you around the rectangle with many unexpected pathway options. Remember, pathways don’t always have to be objects themselves. They can be something like the edge of a shadow shape or a contour line across a surface. #pathwaystotherectangle
Tip: Draw a rectangle inside your paper or photo, or be very careful how you take your photograph, to be very intentional about how the pathways interact with the boundary around them.
Freebie: No need to draw the pathways on your work as I have with red in the example below. Just build the scene with drawing, painting, photography, collage, or assemblage – and post it.
Thank you to NYSS teacher Jonathan Harkham and Fran O’Neill for teaching me the power of pathways to the rectangle. I had learned about pathways in art school but I thought they were stupid, and the idea was outdated by a few hundred years. But after Fran taught me new ways to see and draw, I see how contemporary and powerful pathways can be. They totally changed the way I approach my artwork! Here’s a 5′ drawing I did in our last in-studio workshop in February 2020. This was giant figures with Fran O’Neill. I have never enjoyed drawing more than I did that day. I drew for 6 hours, and did not want to ever stop!
Interested in exploring this idea in a class? Drawing II with Fran O’Neill starts this week. I’ll be there! It’s my favorite time to draw. Click here to learn more.
Post it
To be eligible for prizes (yes prizes!) at the end of the month, post your work to Instagram with #30sal and #pathwaystotherectangle so we can find your post.
To find more followers for your page, you can cut/paste these to your post:
#30sal #pathwaystotherectangle #vnotes #creativechallenge #januarychallenge #drawingchallenge #drawing #art #sketch #artchallenge #artist #draw #artistsoninstagram #sketchbook #instaart #artwork #drawingoftheday #dailydrawing #oilpainting #mixedmedia #drawingsketch #artoftheday #creativity
Padlet
Don’t have Instagram? Post your work to Padlet.
DAY 24: PATHWAYS TO THE RECTANGLE https://seattleartistleague.padlet.org/SAL/b3oqeqtgy3rlt3rx
DAY 23: SET THE STAGE https://seattleartistleague.padlet.org/SAL/p7q2x2le410zm3b9
DAY 22: REVERSE PERSPECTIVE https://seattleartistleague.padlet.org/SAL/zady37uhzbw40wso
Deadline for Prizes
Deadline for submissions: 3 days after each challenge post.
January prize winners will be announced in February.
To learn more about the 30SAL Challenge, click here.
Online drawing classes start this week!
Related Posts
Day 1: Haptic Self Portrait #30SAL
Welcome to the 30SAL Creative Challenge! Broaden your creative skills Every day this January we’ll post a creative challenge to our V. Notes blog. Subscribers will receive these posts in their inbox. Designed to foster a wide variety of creative skills, our challenges are not restricted to any style or genre, and medium is artist’s …
#30SAL Faves: Scribble Line
For the Scribble Line Challenge on Day 9, there were other artworks but this one was so special we decided to keep it …brief.
Yankee Doodle
Yankee Doodle The paintings are credited to Archibald Willard. Color and composition versions, oddly varied, are the contributions of the internets. The original (dutch) nonsense words to “our” Yankee Doodle song: Yanker, didel, doodle down, Diddle, dudel, lanther, Yanke viver, voover vown, Botermilk und tanther. From Wikipedia:The term Doodle first appeared in English in the early seventeenth century[7] and is thought …
Colored Pencil Drawings by Helen Rae
Helen Rae (1938-2020)“Her drawings, in colored pencil and graphite, are immediately striking for their vivid imagery, resonant use of color and innovative reworking of source material. Using fashion advertisements as a point of departure for otherworldly journeys into the subconscious, Helen transforms the original images into something uniquely expressive, which possess a strange beauty and …