“Everything in life worth achieving requires practice. In fact, life itself is nothing more than one long practice session, an endless effort of refining our motions.

When the proper mechanics of practicing are understood, the task of learning something new becomes a stress-free experience of joy and calmness, a process which settles all areas of your life and promotes proper perspective on all of life’s difficulties.” – Thomas Sterner

All Forms are art forms, and every art form communicates something. The important information that gets communicated with Forms is located on the silhouette of the Shape. This information is reflected by the treatment of the Shape’s Edges. The edge treatment is also what conveys the form’s emotion, and collectively, the overall emotions of the piece. It’s our job as artists to make our forms communicate what we want.

Soft edges between shapes offer a chance to connect one shape with or into another, and yet keep the element distinct. We use soft edges to minimize attention to areas; or to unify the sameness; to lose focus in areas that are simply there to support other more important areas. The direction of brush stroke to blend these edges can also be used to subtly redirect the eye of the viewer to an area of importance.

Hard edges are a powerful tool to use to attract attention. Don’t underestimate this power. Use it wisely. As Voltaire said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” This was also quoted by Spiderman’s Uncle Ben. So, as an artist who is taking extreme ownership of their art, design your overall composition and plan a hierarchy of edges around your center of interest. Normally, this visual center of your painting needs the sharpest edge along with the greatest contrast. However, this is where rule-breaking can come into play. Play around with the effect higher contrast has with softer edges, or lower contrast with harder edges. This bending of rules is what makes your art uniquely your own.

Edges of your Canvas

It’s often said the four most important edges of your painting are the outside edges of your canvas. Pay attention to how shapes enter and leave your canvas. Pay particular attention to the corners. This is where two of your edges come together and form a natural eye attracting tangent. Whatever shapes occupy in and around your four corners, don’t add any Design Elements (Line, Form, Shape, Color, Direction, etc.) that would lead the eye further to the edge and out of your painting. Use your understanding of your Design Elements to keep your attention and eyes into the painting.

NOT THIS

Edge’s power shows up in the contrast between shapes, not necessarily within the shape itself. The human eye is attracted by contrasts in value, color, shape, size and of course edge. Your ability to control your edges-where and when you want them to be invisible, soft, to extremely hard and everything in between-will give your painting that ‘make it or break it’ quality. The most powerful paintings know where and when to lose an edge, and allow shapes to connect that don’t normally connect. It is that connection that gives the painting its deeper meaning, and it’s the edges between these shapes that make it possible.

Unify Sameness:

I often use the phrase “Unify Sameness” when I teach workshops. This concept is one that helps connect shapes of similar Value and Color. By unifying the shapes, you’re adding simplification to your composition, something that builds a stronger painting. It’s managing the edges between these well-connected shapes that’s the key.

For example:

This photo taken of construction workers building the Hoover Dam is so powerful. Ask why? The angle (Line) for one is very dramatic, but the thing I want you to see are the light and shadow shapes connecting the mens’ shoes and legs with the dam itself. These men are linked; they are one with the dam. Look at all the areas of linkage; the men in the distance seem to be ghosts within the dust of construction. Faces are blackened; ropes, like the rigging on a ship, are taut and tied above the men, while below they hang loosely and slack.

Likewise, John Singer Sargent’s painting below, called Gassed, has similar linkages with the mens’ boots and the ground. These connections are made by unifying the sameness of the contrast, color, and value of the ground with the boots of the soldiers . This powerful painting serves us in many ways, as representative of the horrors of war for one, but looking at this from Sargent’s Design perspective, the soldiers all linking up as they walk and follow in unison, is an excellent reminder for us as artists to link up and unify our shapes with lost and found edges.

John Singer Sargent – Gassed (1919), oil on canvas, 90” x 240”

This dramatic painting has shapes that are all linked together. The ground, fountain, and tree shapes are all tied together. The water and that highlighted edge of the fountain are two areas of shape contrast.

Shannon Birch: Lincoln Square Fountain, Chicago 9” x 12” Oil

 C.W. Mundy Fruit and Teapot.

One artist you should follow is C. W. Mundy. This piece above is not only exquisitely painted but provides us with lessons on how important edges are to our shapes. This simple Z composition is connected in both super soft and super hard ways. Also enjoy how C.W. used the negative shapes in between the fruit and teapot, the size of these fabric shapes vary from each other, and each shape has a different edge treatment. He used Direction of the fruit to help lead the eye through the piece and to aid in creating shortcuts from one fruit to another. Understanding this one piece of art is really all you need to help you understand the power Edges have in mastering this Design Element.