In preparation for Landscape Boot Camp with Gordon MacDonald in Nova Scotia, I am reading quite a number of books on composition which I highly recommend those being:
Composing Your Paintings by Bernard Dunstan
Composition of Outdoor Painting by Edgar Payne
The Power of the Center by Rudolph Arnhein
Composition by Cyril Pierce
Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting by John Carlson
As I am discovering, composition is a visual language that over the ages of artistic development and analysis, natural fundamentals have emerged that almost all art critics and artists agree are principles that must be followed in order to create quality paintings.
These principles are sometime rather complex to put in to words. I find that many authors in an attempt to write in an academic way...often lose their audience. I will review the following books two of which I have completed and one I have just started.
Rob Howard has been harping for months now on the importance of "speaking" to the viewer though not only subject matter but also the very construction of the art. All of what he has been saying on the Cennini Forum is confirmed in all that I have read.
REVIEWS
Composing Your Paintings by Bernard Dunstan
This is a book that I did not outline but just read from cover to cover. It is very good and I would recommend it. The substance of his information is packed with practical methods every artist should know. His explanation of the "Golden Proportion" is very clear and easy to remember. Once you see this fundamental perfect proportion, you see it in almost all of the masterpieces. Dunstan is a very clear writer and it is easy reading and it's only 103 pages. This will support the other books that go in greater depth.
by Edgar Payne
Currently I am at the center of this book and I can say that the information here is spot on. The only thing about this book is that Payne is not a very fluid writer. He inverts many of his sentences and places the most important information at the end.
Topics include:
• "
The Approach To Art" -- the purpose and aesthetics of art, emotional impules , nature, discipline, influences, etc.
• "
Selection & Composition" -- critical selection and judgment processes, mistakes in composing, simplicity; painting various objects including marine, mountains, trees, clouds, etc.; fundamental principles, styles, value, color balance, interchange, scale, etc.
• "
Harmony" - color, pigment, rhythm, repetition, etc.
• "
Types of Composition" -- symbols, steel yard principle of balance, the 'O', the 'S', the 'Pyramid', the 'Cross', group mass, the diagonal line, the 'tunnel', the 'silhouette', the 'pattern', etc.
I will update this when I have finished the rest of the book.
***
The Power of the Center by Rudolph Arnhein
I have read and outlined this book. The first few chapters are a bear to get thought because Arnhein is introducing the concepts of
eccentricity and
centricity and it is rather complex. If you stick with it, it will begin to make perfect sense and fortunately though out the book the author continues to overlap and restate this principle so you do finally get what he is saying.
My pet peeve is that many authors write to impress their academic counterparts. As a copy writer for years (self taught), I had only one desire in my writing and that was to communicate my point as clearly as possible. I wasn't ever trying to impress anyone with how educated I was, or how wide my vocabulary is. In fact, I tried very hard to write at the level than anyone can understand what I am saying.
By the way, I had to pay $48.00 for this book which has been reprinted. An original copy would be between $100 to $300 a copy if you could find one. What does that tell you?
This book seems almost written for students studying architecture. However, the principle is crucial to all art students. It is rather academically written and a slow read. With that said, it is essential that artists understand how powerful indeed are the centers found in a tondo (square/circle) or a rectangle, or any geometric form.
The center is powerful and being unaware of that natural "bulls eye" is to open oneself to making huge blunders in composition.
I highly recommend you read this and study the principles of
centricity (formal, direct, centralized compositional devices), and
eccentricity (informal in-direct compositional devices); the power of vortexes (arrows), and the pull of earth's gravity.
***
Composition by Cyril Pierce
I lack one chapter finishing. This is just a classic book and be prepared to pay $80 to 300 for an original copy. What does that tell you? It is out of print and hard to find.
This book is a really easy read and the information is presented with such simplicity that it literally "sticks" in your brain. Pierce presents the very fundamentals in this little simple book and the illustrations are easy to comprehend as well. It is very well written in that it communicates a very complicated subject in a great simplicity. A must have for any artist.
***
Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting by John Carlson
I have just started this book but I can say that John Carlson does not know squatt about painting mediums. I ran this by Rob Howard on the Cennini form and he stated that all of the information on mediums was wrong...dead wrong. However, one member on the forum knew Carlson and his paintings and felt that his ideas on composition and landscape painting were right on. So I will read the book and report back when I have finished.
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