Finding Ourselves in Art

Harley Brown's fascinating things no one else will tell you

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Two Words: Value Design

Here are two words that if fully understood and used, take artists to inspiring levels of art: value and design. This idea is explored within chapter four of Harley Brown’s Eternal Truths For Every Artist. During my life in art, the great artists I’ve known continued to bring them up. It didn’t take long for me to really understand what value and design meant. Look at any remarkable work of art and we see how these two factors bring such masterpieces. A well-done drawing or painting needs to be brought together with the strong elements of design and value. Major artists past and present have these same aesthetic goals going through their minds while painting.

For Instance

While proceeding on a piece, my mind works in a realist-abstract combination. I’m drawing a face but at the same time, I see shapes while working with shadows, the darker against lighter areas. Those shapes are so important as I integrate them into the work, joining with other shapes. Shadows of features, hair, hands, clothing, background. Developing these shapes lifts the art spirits while leading to the ultimate, overall design.

On the Edge

As seen in chapter six of Eternal Truths For Every Artist, while creating our paintings and drawings, we know all those edges cannot be the same. This is of such importance. In art, as in life, there are continual variations of visual edges. Lost and found edges, sharp and soft edges. Over a lifetime, humans subconsciously understand edges. When we see something close and in detail, other areas might soften. Darker edges might disappear into shadows, or areas of the same value. The artist decides how to handle these variable edges. Variable is key. 

Periodically, Take that