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 the 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. It’s appearing at this stage in our season, rather than earlier, because I feel it’s important not to draw and paint to a set of composition rules. 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 both the “Rule of Thirds” and 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 of his other paintings.
The rising sun and reflections, plus the most prominent vertical are on the Golden Section.
Here Monet is again placing 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 the main compositional elements are around the Rule of Thirds.
Andrew Wyeth Composition Notes
The following focuses on watercolour examples, however my comments are equally applicable to Oils & Acrylics:
Exercise
- This week, rather than suggest that you paint explicitly to conform to one of these spacial layouts, try a few comparative composition sketches to see: following both the “Golden section” and alternatively the “Rule of Thirds”. Notice how the visual impact is affected.
- Which do you prefer? Are there any other layouts that might work better? Along with your work this week, include a few comments on how you decided on your final composition!