Learn how to add excitement to your paintings in this advanced watercolor lesson!
Contrast is the underlying principle that rules all art. Utilizing contrast deliberately is the mark of experienced artist. While the suggestion of such contrast can be found in nature, it’s up to the artist to observe it and consciously implement it in their work.
Imagine walking down a busy downtown street. All around you are buildings with sharp angles, dominant verticals and straight lines all around. The colors are muted, it’s a sea of gray. Suddenly, you notice a small café. Above its glass front there’s an awning, bright red, striped and curved at the sides. Under the awning customers enjoy their morning coffee.
The awning stands out because it contrast with its surroundings, the color is bright red against the sea of gray, it’s shape is curved against the all-straights of modern architecture. If you can take this IDEA of contrasting elements of COLOR and LINE and apply it in your work, you have a winner!
In this advanced watercolor video lesson I point out how this concept applies in my recent painting. Enjoy!
Add Excitement To Your Paintings – STRAIGHT VS. CURVED Contrast - Video Lesson
Add Excitement To Your Paintings – STRAIGHT VS. CURVED Contrast - Transcript
Hello everyone and welcome back to my studio. I hope you enjoyed my latest demo.
In today’s lesson we’re going to talk about LINE as an art element. While line can be defined as a path in the calligraphic sense, in painting we also consider the quality of line in the context of shape’s contour or edge. Each shape’s edge can be creatively adjusted from straight to curved or curved to straight. As such, the painting may become slightly more stylized and abstract. But even in strongly representational work, this kind of contrast can be be utilized successfully. Like any contrast, straight line is used to show off the curves and vice versa. This creates interest and excitement and leads to unity.
Notice how I use this concept throuhough the painting. The majority of my shapes are angular with straight edges. I used the small wooden fishing boats to introduce some curves into the composition. The fish sign in the center of the painting has a curved edge too. These curves echo throughout the composition and both enliven and balance out the overall dominance of straights.
This idea is quite straightforward and it can be applied quite successfully without too much effort, provided you remember to deliberately manipulate these art elements to your advantage and to your painting’s benefit.
And that’s all for today. If you enjoyed the lesson, please leave a like, comment and subscribe to my channel and I’ll see you in the next one.
Add Excitement To Your Paintings – STRAIGHT VS. CURVED Contrast - Material List
🎨 My Full Palette 🎨
🟡🟠🔴 Warm colors
Winsor & Newton Winsor Yellow
Winsor & Newton Winsor Yellow Deep
American Journey Halloween Orange
Daniel Smith Pyrrol Scarlet
Winsor & Newton Permanent Rose
Winsor & Newton Permanent Alizarin Crimson
🟢🔵🟣 Cool Colors
American Journey Joe’s Green
American Journey Cerulean Blue
American Journey Cobalt Blue
Winsor & Newton Winsor Blue Red Shade
Holbein Permanent Violet
🟤⚫⚪Earth & Neutral Colors
None ATM
🖌️ My Brush Set 🖌️
Winsor & Newton One Stroke Sable ½”
Winsor & Newton Series 995 Synthetic 1″
ProArte Renaissance Sable 1″
Robert Simmons White Sable 1½”
Robert Simmons Skyflow 2″
Rosemary & Co. Pure Sable Ser. 90 Liners
🖼️ Paper Used In This Demo 🖼️
Saunders Waterford 140lb Cold Press, 15″ x 22″ / 38 x 56 cm
