Painting Design Concepts and Composition Tips

Painting Design Concepts and Composition Tips

Viewpoints – Changing viewpoints is one way that I love. It naturally alters my dead and formulated thinking. Different viewpoints : Look up, look down, look behind, look closer, look further

Creating a problem - I try to create a problem in each painting composition I work on. This enriches my visual dictionary progressively. Once a while, I like to work on a large painting and create a large problem. It is a good benchmarking method to measure my progress.

Changing tonal keys or dominant colors. Generally, I find tonal structures and dominant colors determine the mood of a painting. Keying in brighter or darker with different color dominant could complete alter the character of a painting.
Doing the opposite – I believe this is the most powerful method to improve one’s design ability. Staying with pre-defined formulae or rules stops me from exploring.

Taking risk doing the opposite things best describes what ‘composition’ is all about. I like to elaborate my points with examples below.

E.g.

I like to paint large and loose paintings; I force myself once a while to paint small 8”X8” still life for the whole day. I have stay focus on the subject and learn to observe carefully. I always see things that I have never seen before.

Most plein air painters like to work only they see nice the light and shadows patterns. I once worked on location when the rain was pouring, that truly expands my colors and approaches in watercolor.

I like complex subject matters. So sometimes, I force myself to paint a simple single object still life.

Try out many more opposite things against your preferred and you will truly enjoy the risking taking journey.

Singapore Artist Art Critique Class Ng Woon Lam NWS MFA

Singapore Artist Art Critique Class

Ng Woon Lam NWS MFA

Students bring in paintings once a month for critique. I will provide exercises after every session.

Basic topics :

1. Tonal Structures and Color Intrinsic Values
2. Color Temperature and Color Theory
3. Study of Light and Shadows; Introduction to different tonal keys.
4. Design concepts and Basic composition guidelines
5. Visual behaviours of paint textures, layers and surfaces
6. Space construction and visual relationship of objects and space
7. Study of Mass and Volume in Space
8. Introduction to Edges

Advanced Topics :

1. Western and Oriental visual space
2. Introduction to important representational painters in history : Van Dyck, Chardin, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Rubens, Turners, Velasquez, Sargent, Zorn, Sorolla, Frans Hals, Homer, Degas, Manet, Monet .....
3. Introduction to contemporary representational painters.
4. Introduction of figurative elements in landscape painting + Basic figure anatomy
5. Introduction of 2D surface abstraction and 19th and 20th century western art development
6. Ways to challenge personal design habits hence enhancing one's ability to compose an image.
7. Study of open form and close form painters and undertanding of edges
8. Artistic research of painters' aim. Why do I paint???

My Workshop