Doing a goodpainting

by Tissa Hewavitarane

Fig. 1: Incorrect painting with no proper balance

To be a successful painter, you need to know how to make a good picture. A camera records things as they are unlike how an artist wants it to be. What looks perfectly lovely through a camera often turns out tiny and distant in a snapshot. Somehow it can seem only half the scene you expected.. Photographs can nevertheless provide excellent information for a drawing.

As an artist you are free to alter any scene you choose to draw. Beginner artists tend to ignore composition both through lack of knowledge and the struggle to put down accurate lines. Composition in art refers to the arrangement of things. The most common mistake is to put the horizon far too high in a drawing.

The eye-level in any picture must fall on the imaginary line which lies directly ahead of you when you draw the scene. You cannot start drawing a landscape seated, and stand up half-way through. The eye level must remain constant. A low horizon will give an impression of great space and calm.

Fig. 2: Correct painting

The illustration on Fig. 1 shows incorrect eye levels and Fig. 2 shows correct eye levels. It also shows another aspect of composition. The two trees in the top drawing are the same shape and size and are equidistant from you. Therefore, they divide attention. In the correct version, I have balanced one tree against three, placed at different distances.

You now see the house as the object of attention. When learning how to draw landscapes you tend to concentrate solely on the item which makes your picture, and forget about composition. You can see how to draw a good landscape picture from almost any holiday snap or from life.

Develop the habit of thinking how you want others to see your painting. Make your drawings a thing to be looked at and admired.