The picture shows the whole portrait as it looks now. There is a diagonal line of bright yellows going to the right and up from Shasta’s head. That is part of what defines the landscape and keeps it from being just a jumble of different greens. (Which it is.)
That diagonal line is important in the composition. It leads your eye to Shasta’s face. And adds interest to the masses of green foliage. Diagonal lines add a dynamic tension to a composition that would otherwise be a wallpaper of busy details. Vertical lines and curves serve a different purpose in a composition. You can see that in the upper half of the artwork.
I think of those lines - horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and curved - as the “flow” of a composition. In a portrait, all lines and shapes should carry your eye to the subject. But it would be silly just to have a bunch of straight lines pointing like arrows to the subject. The curves, lines, and shapes - the “flow” - add interest and tell the story of what you are seeing. In this portrait the story is Shasta’s hike through the forests of Vancouver Island with her beloved people.
Can you see the way vertical lines (tree trunks), diagonal lines, and a curved line (the path) carry your eye and frame Shasta’s face?
There’s still a lot of blank grey paper to fill in. A ways to go yet on the landscape.
🎨 Prismacolor pencil on grey Canson Mi-Teintes paper, with blue watercolor wash on the bridge.
20 x 26 inches
🐕 "Shasta”, a portrait of an Australian Shepherd on a forest trail where she loves to hike with her beloved people.
Comments