3 Tips to a Successful Design in your Painting with Direction
Guide your viewer with movement and direction
Over the Moon has a vertical direction
I based my Boga Beauty painting on an oblique design. Its diagonal direction caught the juror's attention and got my artwork into a show. I didn't win a prize but learned the value of direction in design.
Direction is like designing a garden. If you don't direct the viewer, they will meander. You want them to stop and stay awhile.
“Direction is the vehicle you use to guide the eye through the design. Lines and shapes can be vertical, horizontal, or oblique. Directions can express feelings and emotions. Vertical may suggest grandeur and poise. Horizontal can evoke a feeling of calmness and serenity. Oblique can imply movement or, when used with opposing obliques, can suggest tension or chaos.” … Robert Lovett
“Plan direction & keep your viewer engaged”
As with line, direction can bring unity to your design. Unity focuses your message. What message are you trying to get across? Let’s explore three different approaches to using direction.
Horizontal: (Side to Side). Flat is the direction of the horizon. Left to right in a straight line. Horizontal orientation has the least resistant path for gravity. Think of comfort and sleep. Use a horizontal format if your subject can be described by ease, comfort, or rest. Consider using a canvas size longer than high.
Vertical: (Up and down). We look up for hope and look up to God for help. We look up to the sky because it is grand. Ballerinas are poised. Clouds float. The brilliant sun shines its rays down on us. If your sketch incorporates these similar ideas, try to connect lines and shapes up and down. Orient your canvas like a tall rectangle. Most books are oriented taller than they are wide.
Oblique: (bottom left to top right, or visa versa). These images are slanted or at an angle. It’s like falling dominos. Like the arc of a thrown ball. The sloping edge of a mountain. Movement, tension, chaos are implied. I’m not sure if a horizontal or vertical canvas would work better for this design. Looks like you have choices.
Whatever direction you choose, use repetition to enforce the structure of the work.
What are you working on today? Is it a peaceful scene of pine trees in the fog? Think horizontal. Is it hopeful and grandiose? Think vertical. Is it action-oriented? Think oblique. Your choice in direction might just help you catch your viewer’s eye.
“I was there when he established the heavens, when he drew the horizon on the oceans” says Wisdom from Proverbs 8:27