Elements of Design - Shapes

Edgar Whitney believed that the best shapes are longer in one dimension, interlocking, and oblique.
I try to keep that in mind when designing the shapes in my painting.

The hardest thing for students to understand is that shapes and objects are not synonymous.  The shade side of a building can be linked to the cast shadow of the building to form a dark shape.  The sunlit side of the building can be the same value as part of the background to form a light shape.

In this painting demo, the light on the path leads out to the light on ocean and then into the sky to form one light shape.  The path is an oblique and interlocks with some of the darker midtones of the ground vegetation.
And it is longer in length than in width.  Study the tree foliage for the same principles.