Composition turns a Painting into Poetry. 5 Tips

Playing around with words and adding a few similes and rhymes can turn even a mundane idea into enjoyable poetry. Isn't it!

Art is nothing but a painted poetry 
An artist is viewing the same scenes which everyone else is. But his artistic eye functions as a filter. It chooses in the scene only the elements which will enhance the intended experience of the audience..

Let me illustrate this artistic filtration and composition decision with a recent painting I did.

Picture credit - Raghu, The Hindu

This photo appeared in a newspaper. I was attracted at the nostalgic joy of that school kids romping in the rain, which was catalysed by that jump and its dramatic reflection. I decided that should be the Central Theme or Topic of my painting.
So, the other elements in the photo should not disturb my central theme. I have to retain only the elements which will support my central theme. Right?

The elements which are not necessary for my central theme

Major Composition decision
I felt that my painting need not follow the horizontal landscape mode of the reference photo. My hunch was a vertical Portrait mode will make the painting different and make it more 'energetic'!
That will also enable to me show the full reflection of the jumping kid, which will make the aesthetics complete.

Some more composition decisions which are subtle but effective
1. The reflection of the sky starts from the top and flows down as a light streak. This is the holding element for all the elements in the composition.
2. The jumping boy's foot protrudes outside the frame, giving a 3D effect depth. 
3. Similarly the water splash breaks the frame on the other side.
4. The water around the boys' reflection was deliberately not painted. The isolated boys' reflections in the foreground adds a dramatic effect. 
5. The background rectangle is not complete like a frame. It has been broken at the top and bottom to give a 'open feel'.
The responsibility of an artist is not to replicate reality. In contrast, he should filter the 'essence', add artistic elements to give an aesthetic experience to the viewer. That is the responsibility of an artist.

- KravMaga SreeRam

The metamorphosis of creating!

I prefer to draw manually, but drew this on a freeware GIMP so that I can explain the progress, to some friends who specifically asked me to explain the progress.
1.. is the reference image.
2. GETTING THE PROPORTIONS
When we work on computers, the easy way out is to trace the image, But there is NO learning in that. To teach myself to observe the proportions, I took Morgan's face length as the base measurement scale. So his shape in this photo was roughly 3 faces height and approx 2 faces width.

3. BASIC SHAPE ON LAYOUT
Now that I had the measurement references, i fixed the centre line of Morgan, approximatly cutting him vertically down from the centre of his eyebrows and along his jacket's edge /lapel.
Once these parameters are defined, it is reasonably easy to draw Morgan's outline on the overall layout.

4. COLOR BLOCKING 
In another layer, I started fixing the color hue (color) and values (light to dark). At this stage I am not getting into the details, as my intention is to get the image's unique character in place. I know if i get this stage right, it is only a small step forward to ...

5. FILL IN THE DETAILS
This is more or less the last mile of completion. One can leave with this version or add some drama with....
6. COLOR CORRECTION
add some personal flavour in the color, make the tones richer, remove some unwanted details.
This is more or less the thinking and execution process when working on an opaque medium like oil, acrylic or crayons..
While using water colors we have to be more deliberate while blocking the colours, since no camouflage is possible
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SreeRam
0 9380000555

Composition - Decisions to make before you start painting

Composing a frame 

One of the WOW factor is how the artist has composed the art, whether it is a painting, movie scene or a photograph.
Positioning the main subject in the centre of the canvass is common, but it is so boring like a passport photo.

So, before starting to sketch, while the artist is looking at the reference, he is doing some mental cropping. He is making quick decisions on which elements to highlight, which ones to sacrifice so that the main subject is the protagonist. The artist is also trying to make the composition aesthetic.

Reference shot in my mobile

For instance, this was the reference I shot for painting "The Narcissist". If I had drawn the same. the viewer would have seen the scooter as the main subject since the bird is insignificant. 

But the whole drama was in the bird looking at the mirror! So, I zoomed in; but not too much.

There were those interesting reflections on the polished surface of the helmet. Also, the angle of the handlebar was dynamic and taking the eye towards the main subject - The Narcissist