Painting and Composition: Tried & True Tips for Art Teachers

Greenman, Geri, Arts & Activities

Like a composer works with rhythm, melody and harmony, an artist works with balance, unity, rhythm, proportion and emphasis. (1) Each principle creates a sense of balance and interest while weaving many parts together into a pleasing whole. These principles are different than the elements of art: line, shape, color, form, texture, space and value, which we can see; whereas, we can feel the principles of design, not tactually, but with our art hearts and our natural senses. Eventually, using these concepts seems effortless--every now and then visual rules need to be tweaked to achieve our desired effects, but it comes naturally.

By giving your students a basic understanding of placement on the picture plane, an understanding of perspective and how to use color to suggest distance, and other tried and true techniques, your students will use this …

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Publication information: Article title: Painting and Composition: Tried & True Tips for Art Teachers. Contributors: Greenman, Geri - Author. Magazine title: Arts & Activities. Volume: 141. Issue: 3 Publication date: April 2007. Page number: 66. © 2009 Publishers' Development Corporation. COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale Group.

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