Best Information About Design

[Julie Deane]

HI Carol -

Look as hard as you can for books by David Friend. They're out of print, but oh my are they good! His book "Composition - A Painter's Guide to Basic Problems and Solutions" analyzes compositions by great masters, but does even more. He takes the reader through a series of exercises, giving a problem to solve, and then shows how a "master" solved it. Among the artists used as examples in his book are Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Winslow Homer, Daumier, Goya, Whistler.

Another excellent, easier to obtain books is Henry Rankin Poore's book "Composition in Art".

I find these two books are my basic course in composition, to which I refer frequently. Either one is a good primer. Poore's book would probably be the best one with which to start, as it gives a general overview of important considerations.

Another David Friend book, "The Creative Way to Paint" is chock-full of more analysis of composition in great paintings.

[Carol Norton]

Oh my, THANK YOU, Julie and Allan.
I will go after that like a ... heat seeking miss..... What can I say that would be appropriate? What a wonderful resource this place is! Gratitude is my new middle name.

[Vianna Szabo]

Hi Carol,

One of the quintessential books on design is by Edgar Payne and is called "Composition of Outdoor Painting". Even though it is on landscape it deals very effectively with placement of the masses and using line to move the viewer thoughout the compositon. What I really enjoy are his use of thumbnail sketches to explain the different concepts. I always do a thumbnail drawing to see if the composition will work correctly. I find if it looks good in a two by three inch format it will look good at twenty inches. As a teacher I have my students practice thumbnail sketches by first doing them with whatever shapes they find pleasing, then I have them add value to the shapes. During this exercise we discuss balance and movement and rythym, all these topics are covered in detail in Payne's book. After umpteen little abstracts we apply thumbnails to the model or still life by looking for the big value masses and lines that carry the eye through.

Unfortunately it is a real "Payne" (sorry) to find this book. I bought it as a birthday gift for myself a few years back. I think I got it on Amazon for around $40.00. Original copies are around but they are very pricey.
Hope this helps.

Vianna

[Carol Norton]

Vianna, thank you for the suggestions. I will certainly check this out!