Tom Thomson’s The Jack Pine

The iconic The Jack Pine is arguably the most famous painting by Canada’s most famous artist. Thomson died under mysterious circumstances before the Group of Seven was formed, and this only adds to its mystique. It’s so ubiquitous that it’s perhaps difficult to see it as a painting rather than a piece of Canadian history.

In the following video, I discuss the painting and how it came about.

Designs in space

This week, we’ll cover a couple of systems for organizing space. I’ve saved this concept for the last lesson rather than earlier, because I feel it’s important not to paint to a set of rules and ideas such as balance and rhythm which are perhaps more universal. That said, discussions on composition invariably include a review of some common approaches and norms that can help with layout. In the following  video, I cover some common ideas and approaches to laying out your picture space, why they make sense to follow … and sometimes break!!

The following video covers the “Rule of Thirds” as well as the mystique of “the Golden Section”.  There’s also some analysis of Van Gogh and Monet paintings, plus our own Tom Thomson’s The Jack Pine.

 

The Golden Section/Ratio

If you’re interested in the “Golden Number” there’s some additional analysis to be found on this website (one of many!): https://www.goldennumber.net/art-composition-design/

The rule of Thirds

This system is fairly self explanatory:

 

Examples

The near bed post and corner of the room, plus the window frame on the left, are on the Golden Section. Note how the far corner of the room’s horizon splits the painting along it’s center line horizontally – this worked well for Van Gogh in this and a good few other of his paintings.

The rising sun and reflections, plus the most prominent vertical are on the Golden Section.

Here again, Monet is placing the vertical on the Golden Section. The boat’s boom and the tree line are perhaps conforming more to the Rule of Thirds. By-the-by, the horizon splits the painting along it’s center line – another example of breaking the “don’t put the horizon in the middle” rule.

The tree follows the Rule of Thirds and the horizon is on the Golden Section.

All of the main compositional elements are around the Rule of Thirds.

Exercise

1. This week, rather than suggest that you paint explicitly to conform to one of these spacial layouts, I’d ask that you include a composition sketch following both the “Golden section” and alternatively the  “Rule of Thirds”. Notice how the visual impact is affected.
2. Which do you prefer? Along with your painting, perhaps include a few comments on how you decided on your final composition.