Room Full of WIPS @crow-with-a-pencil - Tumblr Blog

dog-teeth

maybe tomorrow

#guhhhh

bunniebun-juice

bwaaaaaaaaa

yay-bunnies-world

ohhh !!! i knows her !!!

tumpet

randomalistic

Go

crow-with-a-pencil

btw i made a new sideblog for the sole purpose of collecting cool art of birds and fish. it's mostly for my own perusal but i guess y'all can look if you want @somecoolbirdsandfish

crow-with-a-pencil

enough birds and fish to last us through the winter

cloudmancy

unreasonably charmed by Pendant in the shape of a ram's head, Eastern Mediterranean, 5th–4th century BC, made of glass

cloudmancy

I never thought about this... you're right, that's awesome

#cool art

palaeosinensis

Life advice for the ages. Those doing wrong want you tired and hopeless. But stay angry. And when a chance is in front of you: bite back. Digital plans for a real linocut. I'm anxiously awaiting a press to make this stuff possible with my RSI in my hands.

#cool art

snowboundnight

scythes and detail

noahverrier

My oil painting of an Uncrustable & Diet Coke

#cool art

pillowspace

There are many people who don’t share this sentiment, but I have an appreciation for when a fanfic is so separated from canon that it could’ve easily been its own original novel, and yet the author was only ever going to put that much energy into it if their favourite characters got to be there

pillowspace

I think there’s a difference between “the author stripped the media of everything it had to replace it with something easy” and “the author thought up a concept they really really like and are bestowing it upon the character like a medal”

is-the-graph-healthy

This reblog graph is UNHEALTHY!

pillowspace

My post is sickly

hannahlockillustration

Morning Glory

#cool art

mirroir

The Kelpie Pond✨️ Jaimie Whitbread

#cool art

taxidermycanine

ouggggghhhhgghhh... zzzzzZzZzzzzzzz....zzzzZz...zzzzzzzzz...zzzzzzzZz

30-6-26

hi, i recently followed and i love your art. i like how (ar least the recent things you posted recently) are pretty simplified and pack a punch visually

and i wondered if you use/have learned any particular techniques for compositions? i've tried studying how rule of thirds/golden triangles/whatever the hell apply to compositions i like, but i didn't learn from it in a way i could reliably use

Thanks! When it comes to composition, the main things I think about are bias and how to lead the eye.

Our brains like bias in images. Something that splits the canvas 70/30 is more visually interesting than something that splits it 50/50. That's why we often aim to divide the canvas into big, medium, and small shapes, and why those shapes look better when there's significant difference/bias in their sizes. The image on the left below has more contrast between the size of its shapes, and so feels more visually interesting than the one on the right:

When it comes to leading the eye, it tends to move along lines/edges, and it tends to move towards the points where lines converge and intersect. You can use this to guide the viewer's eye through your piece to your focal point. For the same reason, having too many lines pointing in random, unrelated directions, can make the piece feel disorganized and unclear.

For example, you can see how much clearer the location of the focal point is in the upper composition here than it is in the bottom one:

It's true that the upper one is pretty unsubtle, but you gotta know how to make it work unsubtly in order to make it work subtly because the subtle stuff is just the unsubtle stuff in disguise.

I'd also recommend keeping catalogues (folders on your computer, powerpoint presentations, however you like to store images) of art that you like so that you can use them for reference, inspiration, and studies. I keep a composition catalogue and a color catalogue among others.

Sidenote, Edgar Payne's book, Composition of Outdoor Painting, is a great resource for learning about composition: