Series 2: GUIDING THE EYE

Navigating with Value- S2L1

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This lesson is S2L1, Navigating with Value of the GUIDING THE EYE series. Using as her subject a scene of beach grass and dune fencing, Dianne shows a step by step process for laying in a general value blockin, then placing the images according to how they contrast with their immediate surroundings. With each brushstroke she points out the role that value plays in how the eye navigates within the piece. The human eye will instantly go to whatever contains the highest contrast .

Value is the single most important element for composing with   clarity.  In this series, Dianne shows how to use degrees of value contrast as the agent that guides the eye throughout the painting.  In this two lesson series, she delegates the first lesson to following a general to specific process of setting the stage for a visual path.  In Lesson Two, she will show how to refine that process so that the eye is truly guided by the placement of varying degrees of contrast.

 With every brushstroke we make, we are composing.  Just as with any creation, we begin with a structure, then as the art work begins we place shapes, values and colors according to the concept with which we are working.  The more we practice, the deeper our experience becomes. We move to a higher levels of thinking and decision-making. We have moments when our intention is to bring clarity and resolution to the work.

It’s not necessary to memorize principles when we can turn them into tools and make them work for us one at a time.  If we focus on them as individual organic slices of the total creative process, they become second nature to the way we work.  THAT gives us unlimited potential to creative expression.   They are as simple as learning to drive a car.

Read Dianne’s Compose blog posts HERE.  Visit Dianne’s website and example her work HERE.  And visit her YouTube Channel with dozens of Quick Tips HERE.