Friday, February 19, 2010

Overlapping diagonals to create distance

Above is a Hibbard. I want to continue with the designing for distance ideas I have been talking about for the last few days. This Hibbard is of Rockport. I was standing and looking down on this spot from above a few weeks ago. It looked pretty grown over now. Many of you who are readers of this blog know that Aldro Hibbard is a hero of mine. if you don't know his work, there is a little book available on him from the Rockport Art Association in Rockport, Massachusetts, you can order it from them at (978).546.6604.

The illustration is presented again with lines drawn on it showing overlapping diagonals opposing one another, crossing again and again in succession. Object is placed behind object, behind another object as they march down into the picture plane.

This is another mechanical method of introducing recession that doesn't depend on atmospheric perspective. In this example Hibbard also uses atmospheric perspective in the background. Using design methods to get recession doesn't preclude using atmospheric perspective.

Above is a Gruppe of winter in Vermont, showing the same strategy. Here is the defaced version with its annoying little lines.

The first set of diagonals physically overlap. But that is not essential to this game. Several sets in there have an implied overlap. That works well too.

I want to remind those of you who are in the deep South that I will be doing a workshop in Rolling Fork Mississippi. Below is the information on that.

Mar.15-19 Rolling Fork, Mississippi
http://patwalker-workshops.com/Workshops2009.html

This is going to be a five day workshop and I will do my usual total immersion style event. We will be painting the Land of the Blues, on location in the Mississippi delta. I will teach the material I do on the blog, but because I will actually be able to answer questions and show you what I mean in paint, you should be able to learn a lot. I will also be discussing the business of art. I will cover relationship with dealers, pricing and getting started showing your work. I hope to see you there. I am going to load my iPod with Muddy Waters, and Robert Johnson for the occasion.

4 comments:

Tom said...

Hi Stape
I like the lines of analysis I feel like you are channeling energy. The pictures look so good one is likely to forget the underlying structure that makes the beauty possible.

mariandioguardi.com said...

These design analysis are just the cat's meow (or the cat's pajamas)! More than one way to skin a cat, indeed.

I have read these design analysis every morning over and over hoping to get that body of analysis in a skill set that I can transfer to my paintings and observation.

On the red accents that Gruppe places; seems to me that he is also using the use of color accent to move your eye around the painting much as his placement of objects and design.

For instance, in the harbor scene where the eye could easily be held in the dark left corner because of the strong and commanding shapes..that little dash of warm reddish hue bring the eye back to the Zig Zag and to the back of the painting.

In the next Gruppe (the houses and barns), the "reds" are placed on two crossing diagonals, like an X which bring your eye back to the center, much like his design placement does. Anyway, my point being that it seems to me that Gruppe uses placement of color as part of his overall painting design.

Stapleton Kearns said...

Tom:
I think the underlying geometry makes the pictures have a human made, nonrandom substructure that we see as beauty.When it is done smoothly the viewer is only very vaguely aware of what is going on.
....................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Marian:
Gee I believe you are right!I went back and looked for those red accents and there they where.
.......Stape