Look Up!

"The Weathervane"

I've already discussed looking down for subject matter this summer.  Now I want to talk about looking up!

Yesterday was the annual Artists on the Lawn event at my friend Jan Kilburn's house/studio/garden.  While other artists were looking at the very beautiful flowers at eye level in Jan's gardens, I looked up at the roof of her house and saw this weathervane.

Choosing a subject because of its worm's eye view has several built in advantages.  First is that your perspective provides a chance to utilize obliques (diagonals) to create a bit more tension.  Second, the focus narrows a bit because there is not as much to see.  Third, architectural features are not as frequent as the ubiquitous flower painting.

While I was painting this, one of the other artists came by and admitted that she probably would have painted the doorway of the house, the flowers, the flower pots on the steps, and the trellis next to it.  I see this as a major drawback of most student artists.  The perceived need is to include everything that is in the scene while eliminating the focus on one specific thing.  If your title would be "The flowers, the flower pots, the doorway, the window, the steps and the trellis next to the doorway",   you've probably included too much.  Titling your painting ahead of time focuses your attention on what attracted you to the subject in the first place.

Bottom line:  Look up, look down.  Change your perspective in more ways than one!