Shapes 2D
Shapes are a fundamental building block of Design. Shapes of all dimensions are used to build and construct our compositions.
Some of the basic shapes to look for are squares, circles, ovals, rectangles, triangles. We also have more organic shapes such as spirals and blobs and any combinations of the above.
Clustering or Clumping is a design concept that describes the grouping of all shapes and sizes. Making great looking shapes is the goal. By using Clustering as a design technique, our shapes start to look organic in sizes and display good variety. I learned a great way to remember this clustering concept from fellow artist and instructor John Burton, (http://jburton.fineartstudioonline.com) He calls this clustering technique “Continents and Islands.” Look at the world map. Our earth is made up of shapes of land and water. These organic looking shapes are in themselves beautiful. Use these “continent and island” shapes as inspiration to make your own beautiful shapes.
The challenge: We humans have a tendency to bring order to our shapes. We like straight lines, even spaces, and order to our architecture and city planning. Nature has one up on us though. So, we human artists have to fight the very real tendency to make shapes and clusters too organized and regular. This is a great skill to develop if you’re a city planner, an engineer, or an architect, but artists, looking to replicate the organic shapes Nature provides, need to break through this impulse.
Positive and Negative Shapes
Positive shapes are the spaces where objects exist, while negative shapes are the spaces between those objects. When we are painting trees, the shapes of the tree are the positive shapes and the sky and the sky holes are the negative shapes. One important skill to develop is your brain’s ability to quickly flip from painting negative shapes to positive shapes, and back again. Even within the same brushstroke. Get comfortable with this uncomfortable feeling. This will serve you well.
Light and Dark Shapes
Another way to consider shapes is by the light and dark areas of your scene. Seeing your shapes in this way will help you create an interesting composition. Keep your light shapes in the light and your dark shapes in the dark. Now your eyes may see light shapes in the dark, and dark shapes in the light, but ignore these details for now. The stronger painting has an unmistakable light and dark plan. See Colley Whisson’s painting Mosman Bay Vista 12”x10”. Colley makes sure his Shapes of light and darks are simplified and never mixed or over blended. Also take note of his expert use of Edges to attract the eye through Contrast.
Big and Small Shapes
When you’re observing your scene to paint, use Size (another Design Element) to define your shapes. Look for your biggest shapes down to smaller shapes. Find different ways to connect these shapes. The connections between these large and small shapes are often the most interesting parts of a painting. Take for example Edgar Payne’s painting below. Notice the big, massive mountain shape and how he so eloquently connected that large shape with the smaller shape on the right edge with a tiny passage of the same color and value. That tiny passageway of paint is what connects the big and small shapes in this painting. Look for other connected passageways in this painting. Observe how they all connect. It acts as a foreshadowing mark of the thinness of the passageway our horsemen have to make ahead of them. It’s brilliant.
Edgar Payne, Detail Sunset, Canyon De Chelly, 1916
Edgar Payne, Sunset, Canyon De Chelly, 1916
Kathie Odom (https://www.kathieodom.com) said during one of her demos, “Imagine lifting or peeling away from your painting a clear sheet of plastic and coming off with the plastic are all your dark shapes. In looking at your sheet, all your dark shapes should somehow be connected with each other.” This is an excellent example of the concept of shape clustering.
Practical applications:
When starting out, first look for the big shapes. Start your compositions with no less than 3 and no more than 5 big Shapes. This helps simplify and organize your composition. Most people squint to reduce detail. Others being nearsighted, like myself, can simply remove their glasses periodically to see ‘clearer’ and eliminate all that distracting detail.
In looking out from Montrose Harbor at the skyline, look for these shapes; triangles, trapezoids, and arcs. One in the Lake to the left. the mass of trees and buildings coming in from the right, and the channel marker jetty. A trapezoid makes up the rest of the Lake to the right of the channel marker; the buildings and trees are composed of rectangles and blobs, and crescent shapes fill the sky. Gaps in your shapes offer small connection points or pathways for the eye to travel (see Payne’s example above).
Now when I look for a scene to paint, I’m aware of where my attention is going. It’s usually attracted to Contrasts. Using my sketchbook, I then identify and build the scene with Lines and Shapes first. I’ll sketch out little thumbnail drawings and shade in a corresponding Value to my shapes. As emotions come to mind, I’ll write down words next to the sketch to help me remember the feelings I have about this scene. I use these simple building blocks to construct my scene. I’ll also ask myself, is this something paint-worthy? Is there a story here? Is there intent or purpose with this scene? What can I do to make this a stronger composition? What can I move or eliminate? I’ll try out different orientations. Maybe this composition is better in a vertical or a square orientation. I also determine my center of interest at this beginning stage. Selecting the center of interest, and its placement on the canvas, at this early stage makes many other design decisions that come later a lot easier.
The blending from shape to shape is controlled by Edges, another design element we’ll be exploring later.
For Example:
Don Yang’s Humboldt Park Boathouse painting shows a wonderful example of seeing your scene’s shapes. Don’s wonderful play on overlapping and connecting shapes together is the whole story here. This is a college-level course showing shape discovery, design, and painting.
Here, Don uses outlines to define his shapes. This approach reduces the scene into simple 2D shapes, almost like cutout pieces of paper. He then rearranges these shapes and sizes causing overlaps and connections. He’s also using the sky as a shape to give us little windows of air to open up the scene even more.
Don beautifully captured this remarkable structure on this dreary rain-soaked day in a most impressive way. The 100% cloud cover offered no direct warm light, so every shape he created had minimal depth. Despite the coolness of the day, Don still brought warmth and depth to the colors of the building, and the trees themselves responded, and brought forth their warmth as well.
In Closing:
I often tell my students to not call yourself just an artist, but also an “intriguing shape finder.”
For it’s these intriguing shapes, and their connections with other shapes, that really make our art dynamic and compelling.