In the ongoing conversation on composition I thought I would dissect this painting, Summer Entourage, a large oil, 52 x 52 inches.  Summer Entourage is about many things, family, friends, summer days of Augusta, and also about the passage of time. Some lyrical moments of summer can seem both timeless and fleeting, beautiful moments, glimpses of […]

Last night I was talking with an artist friend about composition. This is one aspect of painting craft that will ever be a creative challenge and a joy. Take for example, a recent illustration, the narrative directs the composition and this is as it should be. Then the composition directs the rest…lighting, values, anatomy, perspective, all […]

Recently, I had a student question the idea that artists really build paintings upon complex substructures, assuming that artists are actually just painting the inspiration, conferring with the muse until it looks good. Well, um, that would be a truly dumb way to design a complex picture. While this may work fine for the simple […]