Zig-Zagging

Verticals portray stability and formality.  Horizontals convey peace and harmony.  Obliques (some call them diagonals) create tension and interest. 

I try to incorporate obliques in some portion of most of my paintings.  Once in a while it helps to include a shape that zig-zags through the painting.  This not only creates tension; it can also be a pathway to various points of interest around the painting. 

The light shape in this painting leads the eye from the lower right to the little falls back to the figure and then up to the pink rock wall.  Several verticals stop the eye and return it to the zig-zag shape.

Compositional considerations are the components of good picture making.