Soft and hard edges

The human eye is naturally attracted to sharp angles and strong contrasts, such as light color next to really dark color. In paintings, these are called hard edges. Artists create hard edges to attract the viewer's attention to a certain section, usually the point of interest. In this portrait of my friend Miguel, the hard edges can be found on the outlines of his torso.

Then there are also the soft edges (or disappearing edges) that connects the main object to its background. (Hard edges all around will make the object look like a cutout.) Soft edges can be found on the right side of Miguel's hair, face and elbow. The right side of him has a cast shadow and seem to disappear into the dark hedge behind him.

Miguel

16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas board

Art Design 101

I came across this picture of two men in a wrestling pose, and I just had to paint it! It has the basic elements that they teach in any art design classes. Certain parts can be underlined by blue horizontal and vertical lines, which convey solidity and stability. The red diagonal lines convey movement and excitement. Too many horizontal or vertical elements can make your paintings static, while too many diagonals can make it chaotic. In addition, the outline of the two wrestlers create an upright triangle, as illustrated by the yellow outline. Composition utilizing geometric shapes were commonly used by Renaissance artists.

The wrestlers
16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas board