Shade is the amount of light that is not hitting a given surface. A light shade is a little bit of light not hitting a given surface. Dark, pure black, shade is no light hitting a given surface.

In the normal daytime world there’s always some light, in most environments, hitting a given surface so shade is not purely black if we are talking about ‘realistic’ art styles.

However you can always exaggerate by making it black so it contrasts with other colours that are not in shade, and things can stand out more.

Composition

There’s obviously more to creating a successful work of art outside of mark-making and medium mastery. Our composition plays an important role in how our works are viewed and experienced by our audience.

We can compare this musical analogy to art-making. Just like a song, each work of art that we create has a structure (or should have a structure). As artists, we plan this structure and execute it as we create the art.

If we don’t carefully plan the elements that we include, our art can become a real mess.

So when it comes to art, composition is the arrangement of elements within the pictorial space (or three-dimensional space with a sculpture). The positioning and arrangement of elements within a work affect how a viewer interacts with what we create.

Just like with a song, the possibilities are endless. We have total creative freedom regarding how we arrange the elements within our works. But even though the possibilities are endless, it doesn’t mean that we can approach composition with a haphazard approach without planning. We must craft our compositions, just as a skilled composer would.

In some works, a specific element may dominate. In others, a different element may dominate. However, we should always make sure that we don’t have too many elements competing for attention.

We should focus the attention of our viewer on one or two elements within the scene. These elements become the focal point(s). All of the other elements within the work then become the supporting cast members.

Focal point

A focal point is the area or areas within a scene that command the visual attention of the viewer. In most cases, focal points include the main subject. Every work of art should have at least one focal point.

Focal points should be limited. In many cases, only one focal point is required. You can have more than one focal point, but any number beyond three will be difficult to pull off. If your work has more than one focal point, then there should be one that dominates the others. In other words, there should be one main focal point and perhaps a supporting or secondary focal point.

Focal points can be created in a work using a variety of techniques. These techniques include…

• Contrast
• Isolation
• Placement
• Convergence
• The Unusal

Contrast

Contrast deals with difference. This could be difference in value, color, texture, size, etc. When we include an area of strong contrast, it pulls the viewer’s eye to that location in the work and creates a focal point.

Isolation

If you ever got in trouble as a kid and the teacher put you in the corner, then you know what isolation is all about. When you’re sent to the corner, every other kid in the classroom stares at you. What a terrible punishment!

When we isolate a subject or an element in a drawing or painting, then this element naturally commands attention and becomes a focal point.

Placement

We are visually pulled to the center of shapes. If we think of the picture plane of our work as a shape such as rectangle, then we can expect our viewer to be pulled to the center. If we place a subject close to or exactly in the center of our picture plane, then this subject becomes a focal point.

Although this technique works to create a strong focal point, it’s usually not the best technique to create a visually stimulating composition. When we place subjects in the center of the work, the result is typically static and boring. It’s better to place the subject slightly off center, or better yet – on one of the thirds. More on that in a moment.

Convergence

Convergence refers to the act of guiding a viewer’s eye within a work using visual cues. These may be lines, shapes, contrasting colors, etc. Each element that we include may guide a viewer’s gaze to the focal point. Sometimes, we are drawn to an area within a work simply because the artist has manipulated elements to force our attention to a specific area.

The unsual

Anything out of the ordinary commands our attention. In the same way, anything that we include in our work that isn’t expected or is drastically different from the other elements within the scene will become a focal point.

Creating a defined focal point is important in creating a strong composition, but there’s more to it than that. We also should consider a few of the principles of design.

Nature

Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical universe, material world or material universe. “Nature” refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general.

Nature is both all around us and deep within us. We are inseparable from nature – our bodies, lives and minds depend on the air we breathe and the food we eat.

Artwork based on nature can take many forms and serve many purposes. Because “nature” is such an immense topic that encompasses so many things, I can only provide a partial list of the various subtopics that may appear in nature-related artwork.

lowers, plants, trees, botany, animals, cells, anatomy, bodily systems, weather, geology, matter, energy, fossils, any of the natural sciences, water, fire, environment, conservation, natural history, processes, evolution, birth, growth, aging, decay, change.

Examples of nature paintings

Drawing From Nature

In drawing from nature we should refrain from drawing that which is known to be present. Draw only that which is seen. Our vision should now be the guide, not our imagination.

Distant Detail Appears Dim.

Looking at a tree in the distance, we do not see the individual leaves on each bough. Or, if in town, in looking at a distant brick building we do not see each individual brick. But we know they are there. Nature provides that distant detail should appear dim to the human eye. Hence, such minor detail should not appear in the sketch. Knowing that they are there, there is a natural inclination to supply from memory the apparent deficiencies of the vision. Such inclinations should be resisted. The same principles apply to the detail in the foreground, for, even here, the moment the vision takes in the whole, multiplicity and detail are lost ; only the general masses being grasped by the eye. Therefore, no attempt should be made to put in many minute objects. Let all those parts of the picture that are accessory to the main objects have little more than the impression that will be given by a momentary view. The absence of detail is still more to be desired when considered from the standpoint of light and shade alone. The lights and darks of the trees in the immediate foreground contain much diversity of light and shade ; in the foliage of the middle distance, less will be noted ; while further away from the eye there is still less, and the objects there seem almost flat in their sameness. This is a phenomenon to be observed in all nature sketching, for details vanish as they recede from the eye.

Tendency to Put in Detail because one’s experience or memory tells that it is there, is so great that it is well to keep in mind always this axiom : The greater the distance of an object, the less detail is to be seen.

Even the forms of objects become more and more indistinct as they recede from the eye. This is a law of atmospheric perspective. If this law be broken there will be disturbance, including encroachment and trespass, and these, as every one knows, are serious offenses ; for distance will encroach on the middle distance and the latter, in turn, will trespass on the immediate foreground.

Distant objects should, if placed against the sky, be well relieved against the latter, but not harshly ; on the contrary, their outlines or outer tints may melt softly into the sky.

When Finishing Is Unnecessary

In sketching from nature, avoid, as far as may be, any tendency to work over and over. Study the effects, as far as can be, in advance, and, as far as possible, make the drawing with single operations. Otherwise, distance and atmospheric perspective are lost and the effect is one of flatness devoid, of air and expression. In sketching from nature it is by no means necessary to make a finished drawing, but it is quite needful to indicate the character of the masses in outline and tone sufficiently to guide one in the more finished drawing or colored sketch to be made afterward. In sketching from nature one should strive not merely to make a pretty picture but to make lines and tones that will, to an extent, approximate those seen in nature, the model. In a composition to be made later, one may arrange the component parts of the picture to suit the individual taste.

Cloud Forms

Give much attention to cloud forms. With rare exceptions, outlines should be defined, but not harshly. To take out the high lights in a pencil sketch use the sharp corners of the rubber eraser or use the paper masks as described in the chapter on Pastel-Stencils. One may use the “stump” in the main tones of the clouds or similar objects. Sharply defined objects projecting against the sky should be put in last. The lines in the distance may be partially obscured, but the sharply defined outlines in the foreground and middle distance should not be smudged or obliterated by the “stump” or anything else.

In shading a landscape, a clear sky may be represented by drawing horizontal lines so that they will join or blend together, but the joining should not be perceptible. Masses of foliage may be shaded in a similar manner, except that the strokes forming them are less elongated and the pencil may have a more blunt point.

Curved Lines for Clouds

In shading clouds, slightly curved, parallel lines may be used to advantage, and, where deeper accents of the shadows are to be indicated, these curved lines. may be crossed by a second series of parallel lines.

While there is no set rule or rules relating to, the direction of tone or shade lines, a very good line of practice is to shade an entire drawing with nearly all lines running in the same direction.

Lines that Indicate Distance

In drawings made with closely drawn lines, parallel or otherwise—to convey the impression of tints or tones—the following may be considered as almost a rule, namely ; the greater the distance of the object, the lighter the lines that represent it. Reversely, the nearer the object the heavier the lines by which it is represented. As an example, Fig. 1 represents the rule. The clouds, being considered the most distant, were drawn with light lines—much lighter than they appear in the printed reproduction.

View Finder for Nature Drawing.

Cut out the center from an oblong of cardboard as shown in Fig. 2. Hold it either vertically or horizontally as a picture frame at arm’s length and select what to draw by moving the frame from side to• side or up and down. Then draw what appears within.

Contrast and Values

“Value” as understood in the terms of art expresses the comparative relations of tones to each other, whether of shade or color.

In making a drawing of a landscape, we would look at the tone of the trees against the sky and observe which is darker. If the sky be heavy and stormy and the light comes from behind the spectator, the trees may seem light by comparison, while the sky is darker in value.

The Keynote of a Picture

Similarly, we compare the rocks with the water, the fence to the road, the bough of the tree with the foliage, and so on, according to the different objects that come within the draftsman’s vision. In the production of a drawing containing light and shade as it appears to the eye, in order to obtain the best results, it is necessary to establish at once the darkest value in the whole. This, the deepest spot of shadow in the picture, becomes the keynote with which all other tones of light or dark may be compared.

Only by studying and observing the comparative variety of tones do we arrive at correct values.

As an important quality in art, this cannot be overestimated, for the quality of a picture is apt to depend on a just appreciation of the values that it contains.

Exercises in Single Line Direction.

The exercises in Fig. 5 require careful attention. They are adaptable for any medium except the brush. Their significance lies in the fact that the principal lines in each scene are made with strokes in the same general direction. This does not apply, of course, to the details. In the upper sketch, the prevailing lines are vertical ; in the middle scene, the lines are horizontal, while in the botton scene, most of the lines are oblique.

Video showing how to draw a landscape