Painting is so much more than the act of moving the brush across the canvas. What colors do I want to use? What is my painting going to be about? Composition is crucial to the success of a painting because it is the foundation upon which the color sits and it is impossible to fix a bad composition with color. Even paintings with no human or animal subjects need a good foundation to start with. Even paintings with no drawing involved need a good foundation.
Some people prefer to draw the composition in pencil on to the canvas before painting and some draw the composition with paint and both are great ways to begin. I draw my compositions in paint before adding color and revise as I go along while working on the painting. For the painting above, “On A Bike”, I focused more on the bike sculpture than the figure because the bike is the foundation of the painting. Since the painting is large (30″x40″) I needed a large focal point. The figure is important to the painting but the emotions conveyed by her sitting on the bike are more crucial to the composition than what her face looks like. The setting is the beach, so there is sand and sky behind her holding her in place. There are vertical lines the same color as the sky and the horizon line is a counterbalance which gives the painting balance. I think I used around five or so colors in this painting.
“On A Bike” is 30″x40″ oil on canvas (framed with a hook on the back) and the price is $2400.00. Available now in my online store.