Painting Design

Do you have a fully developed design idea for a painting? Maybe you just have a vague concept of what you would like created into a painting. No matter what part of the design process you are in, Christiano and his team will work with you to create the perfect masterpiece. With over 25 years of experience and training in a range of artistic styles, Christiano works closely with clients throughout the design process to ensure he produces impressive results every time.

Contact us if you have any questions about designing your painting or to get your commissioned painting started today.

The Elements and Principles that Guide Composition

Every great painting, from portrait painting to abstract, tells a story to entertain, inspire and enlighten. Christiano’s creative process will ensure that your painting clearly illustrates your concept or idea by using a thoughtful application of the elements and principles of composition. By applying his knowledge of composition, Christiano can work with you to design a cohesive and effective image grounded in the foundations of art theory.

The Elements of Design are:

LINE: A line can lead the viewer’s eye around an image or can form the boundary of a shape. Lines can vary in thickness, smoothness and texture.

SHAPE: A shape is two or three dimensional and is defined by its boundary and form, organic (natural) or geometric (man-made) shapes.

DEPTH: The apparent distance from front to back or near to far in an artwork. Techniques of perspective are used to create the illusion of depth in paintings or drawings.

TEXTURE: Texture is the way a surface is perceived to feel.

SPACE: Space is the area around the objects or shapes of an image. The placing of objects in the space of an image can create the illusion of three dimension.

COLOUR: A colour is defined by hue, saturation, and value. Colours have many connotations or associations. Colour is essential in bringing energy to an artwork: a brightly colored subject within a dark scene gives a sense of vibrancy and life to an image.

The Principles of Composition are:

BALANCE: Balance makes use of space to spread the visual ‘weight’ of an image; it can be used to create a sense of stability of demonstrate division or unbalance. Techniques may include: symmetry (mirror image), or asymmetry (contrasted sides).

UNITY: Unity ensures harmonious visual relationship between elements in a painting, creating a cohesive image. Techniques may include: using similar colors or tones, concepts or elements.

EMPHASIS: Emphasis helps us determine the focus and center of interest in an image. For example, emphasis can be created through the location (i.e. centred), the size, the contrast and the isolation of a visual element, all of which will attract the eye’s attention. Contrast can be achieved by using two or more opposing elements such as light against dark, warm against cool, or clear, sharp edges. Emphasis can also be achieved through isolation; sometimes less is more. By reducing the image to its most essential features, we can amplify the sensory signals.

PATTERN: Patterns help us make sense of the visual world through repetition and regularity. Elements of design can be organized in a predictable manner to form a pattern; this can evoke surprising emotional reactions from a viewer from playful to calming. Repetition creates rhythm; it dictates the recurring or organized/disorganized distribution of visual elements throughout an image.

MOVEMENT: Movement creates a path for the viewer’s eye to take while reading a painting. Understanding the nature and psychology of human sight is an important part of controlling movement. For example, the human eye is more sensitive to certain colors over others. Movement studies the nature of the eye as well as the psychology behind how we absorb visual information.

ORDER: Order can be achieved through thoughtful composition, grouping together elements through pattern or form. Beauty is inseparable from the appearance of order; pictures filled with patterns, be it subtle color repetitions or formal steps, appear more elegant and composed.

PERSPECTIVE: We prefer artworks that can be observed from multiple viewpoints, such as still life and pastoral landscapes, to the fragmentary perspective of a single person. They contain more information, making it easier for the brain to deduce what is happening within the image.

JUXTAPOSITION: To juxtapose is to place two contrasting elements close together or side by side, like sharpness and softness, old and new or curved and straight. This is done to compare/contrast the two, to show similarities or differences. While different kinds of characters in proximity to one another is intended to evoke meaning where they are not commonly brought together, thereby forcing the reader to stop and reconsider the meaning of the contrasting images, ideas, motifs, etc.

EXAGGERATION: Exaggeration makes an image’s message more noticeable and clearer. For example, using peak shift, a technique of deliberate distortions of a stimulus excite and grab viewers’ attention, is used in creating caricatures.

METAPHOR AND SYMBOLISM: Metaphor is a figure of speech that makes an implicit, implied, or hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated. It encourages us to see the world in a new way; two unrelated objects are directly compared, giving birth to a new idea. Just as we love solving crossword puzzles, we love to “solve” abstract, complex paintings and landscapes with hidden messages and symbols.

Contact us today if you have any questions about how Christiano can bring your concept or idea to life through a commissioned painting.