Composing Pictures – Donald W Graham

If we hold a playing card on edge before our eyes parallel to any plane receding from us in nature, the card will appear as a line. When transposed into drawing terms, this plane on edge becomes a graphic line termed a vanishing line, as we noted in Chapter 3. When the vanishing line is horizontal it is called the horizon. The Spectator and the Picture Horizon When we look at a picture we seldom, if ever, are able to project ourselves completely into this imaginary world.

Usually some barrier of size, or picture flatness, or color keeps us back. Yet there are times when we do feel that we are almost in the picture, especially if human figures are depicted. Because of our James Abbott McNeill Whistler (American, 1834-1903) 1872 or 1874; 20” x 30”; oil on canvas Courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago The Stickney Fund great familiarity with human forms, it is easy to associate ourselves with symbols of people, especially when they are shown in certain settings. Of all the bridges between spectator and picture none is quite as powerful as the horizon.

If the horizon is the same for both spectator and the graphic characters there is a common bond. As spectators we intuitively feel that we are one with the characters. This should not imply that surface control is to be ignored. Although we establish a close relation to the horizon suggested in the picture, a strong surface pattern may still be achieved. In fact, the horizon often is incorporated in the linear structure of the picture surface (Chapter 25).

Honoré Daumier (French, 1808-1879) 97%” x 81%” lithograph published in Charivari Prints Division, The New York Public Library Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations Honoré Daumier 8146” x 91546”; lithograph published in Charivari, May 13, 1857 Courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago In a picture the horizon often is indicated as a drawn line and becomes a means of helping us identify with the drawn characters.

This lucid explanation of how pictures are put together is destined to become a clas- sic in its field. The princigles of and ap- proaches to composi!i«) ar all their sim- plicity, have proved to be intriguing and challenging, the subjects of continuous and continuing study since the beginning of pictorial art. These principles and ap- proaches, both traditional and contem- porary, are here examined in encyclopedic review. Composing Pictures is a book from which to learn, a book to have as a ready reference, a book to pick up occasionally – just to browse through.

It covers all the fac- tors that affect composition. Concepts of drawing and color are emphasized. The power of the borders, the enigma of surface and symbol, problems of handling dark and light, transposing space in nature to space in pictures, the difference between move- ment and action, the use of multiple sta- tion points, drapery as a manifestation of . forces, the screen as a graphic surface are but a few of the aspects of composition explored in the book. The book not only contains a major section of film graphics, but also consistently reminds the reader that the principles of composition relate to the moving picture as well as the still picture.

It is the author’s view that a picture can- not be weighed, measured, and appraised like a sack of potatoes, but by seeing a picture in many ways—by seeing what the artist has done—we begin to understand how a picture is made. The book avoids the usual “discussion by dissection” method of picture analysis, stressing instead graphic forces at work in pictures, both still and moving, which remain valid no matter how forms and fashions in art may change.

These forces are explored in hun- dreds of diagrams and the work of great artists from almost every historical age, every culture, and every style. To name a few, there are: Braque, Picasso, Bruegel, Fra Angelico, Sharaku, Hokusai, Eakins, Holbein, Rousseau, Whistler, Shahn, Pol- lock, Rembrandt, Klee; works of American Indians, of ancient India, Egypt, and Pom- peii; examples of children’s art; and photo- graphic art.

A VAN NOSTRAND REINHOL)) BOOK ~ COMPOSING PICTURES Donald W.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 429fcab7cc3a6bfb
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 38,108,633 bytes (36.343 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 421
• Language: English (en)

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