The integrity of the painting, as work of art, is largely dependent upon its design structure. Successful paintings are seldom made by inspiration but rather by careful construction based on well understood principles of design. These principles are not new. They have been in existence over the centuries and used by generations of artists in the creation of their masterpieces, first with intuitive and later with acquired knowledge.
It is both curious and disturbing that the design aspect of a painting is so rarely commented on. Lavish art books, prestigious art periodicals, and exhibition catalogues commonly ignore design structure. Frequently, only superficialities concerning the subject matter are discussed. The core of the artist's mastery is left undisturbed and the viewer, artist, collector, or simply intelligent layperson, remains uninformed as to how the artists achieved their masterpieces.
The purpose of this book, then, is to identify and describe:
The Elements of Design: Design, as an entity, is composed of several elements: UNITY, BALANCE, RHYTHM, and PROPORTION. A well-designed painting is a unified whole. It is taut and well-knit, regardless of subject matter or style. A well-designed painting is a balanced painting; disparate visual weights are sensitively adjusted to achieve a state of equipoise. A well-designed painting is rhythmic in its flow and satisfying in its proportions.
The Artist's Means: Line, Light, Color, Texture and Form are the Artist's Means. Though this list of materials may seem limited, the possibility of combination and variation is infinite.
Energy and Tension: Energy is a force inherent in every object and is exerted in various degrees, upon various provocations and in various and differing directions. When the directed energy meets an opposing energy, tension develops. Tension is the push/pull between contending forces, between competing energies. Tension unwittingly introduced and abandoned without compensating counter-tension can throw a painting out of balance, disturb its unity and undo proportion.
Movement: Movement in a painting makes the difference between a static, lifeless depiction and an animated compelling picture; the difference between art and decoration. This movement exists through the arrangement of the dynamic qualities; that is, the arrangement of planes, of contrasts, of colors and of textures. For the artist it is a process of recognizing pulls and weights and balances.
The Track of Vision: A picture, like a real-life landscape, cannot be visually comprehended instantaneously. In the real-life landscape, the eye of the viewer wanders freely; it roves, it explores, it pauses and recommences. In a painting, however, orderly, sequential progress is essential. The track of vision enables the artist to manipulate the viewer's gaze from the moment it settles in to experience the painting. The intent is to direct where the viewer will look and in what sequence.
Equally important, the artist controls where the viewer's gaze will pause and even how long such a pause will be. The average viewer contemplating a work of art feels entirely self-directed in the visual passage, yet the journey is as surely routed as that of a tram on rails; even accelerations and decelerations are precisely programmed.
A finely wrought painting includes a track of vision as an indispensable asset, both for the artist to present a creation and for the viewer to avoid needless confusion or, possibly, premature exit.
Design Scaffoldings: Art in any field requires structure. In order to successfully convey an idea, the artist must selectively and deliberately order the elements of the idea. The support system, or scaffolding, provides the framework and the adhesion which give solidity to the total painting. AXIAL, PYRAMIDAL, NUCLEAR/RADIAL, DIVISION of SPACE, FUGAL, CANTILEVER, MEANDER, CIRCULAR, and REPEATED SHAPES are examples of Scaffolding that are explored in The Artist's Design.
These topics comprise the 21 chapters of this book. Textual material introduces each section to define and explain the chapter topic and its relationship to the overall subject of design. Each section is then illustrated with reproductions of paintings which demonstrate how fine artists, both historic and contemporary, have used the design principles discussed in the chapter. In turn, each of the reproductions is annotated as to the specific design function that it illustrates and intricacies in the artists control in this area are pointed out.
The objective of the book, in its entirety, is to provide specific insights into the details of the organization of a painting, leading, it is hoped, to a higher level of professionalism in the making or the viewing of a fine painting and to a deeper appreciation of the technical skill of the painter.