Dominance

I had a real adventure yesterday when I was invited by the caretaker of Ocean Island to come over the causeway to explore the private island for potential subject matter.  It was a treasure trove of driftwood, rocks, trees, beaches, and tidal pools on a day with gorgeous cloud formations.  I took nearly fifty photos to supply me with subjects over the winter.

When I awoke at 3:00 a.m. today and couldn't get back to sleep, I decided to do a sketch of some driftwood on the rocky beach, and then couldn't wait to paint the scene.

First decision:  color dominance.  It was a sunny day, so I opted for a warm, yellow and orange dominance.  The orange rocks in the background are offset by the complementary color of blue in the water.  I grayed the foreground with some violets to again contrast with the yellows on the beach.

Second decision:  To simplify the shape of the beach and keep the focus on the textures in the driftwood, I resisted the temptation to depict the textures of the small pebbles and rocks on the beach.  This results in a smooth dominance with moments of textural interest to break the primary quiet of the beach shape.

And last, the tonal contrast.  The majority of the scene is dominated by the very light values on the beach to achieve the feeling of sunlight.  The dark cast shadows of the driftwood punctuate the areas that I wanted to emphasize.

It always comes down to deciding your center of interest and how to focus the viewers' eyes on that area.  Color dominance, textural dominance, and tonal dominance aid in directing the viewer to what you've decided is the important subject in your painting.