Hi Cindy,
I want to thank you again for sending me a Compose It Grid to try out. I
have found it an excellent tool for training one's compositional eye. I
do a lot of plein aire painting as well as live figure work in the studio.
In plein aire work it is useful in selectively framing a composition much
as you would by creating a frame with your hands and fingers to peek
through , though with much more ease and clarity. Of course its main
advantage is in being able to locate on the grid the principle objects and
lines of the composition with the dry marker and then transpose them to
the canvas. This allows one to experiment with line and the relative
placement of the large masses before touching the canvas. The tricky
illusions of perspective also become immediately obvious.
In figure work in a studio setting the compositional help from the Compose
It Grid works equally well with the added advantage of being able to see
the negative spaces around the figure with more clarity. Also, important
is the understanding of foreshortening, one of the greatest challenges in
figure work since the untrained eye is usually determined to see the
relationship of the figure's masses in preconcieved ways and not as they
actually are. Your Compose It Grid provides a reality check that even the
most accomplished artist would find helpful but it is extremely helpful
for the student to learn to see the world through the eyes of an artist.
I wish you the best of luck on the business end of this enterprise so that
this useful tool becomes available to as many artists as possible.
Sincerely,
Charles Ewing
http://www.charlesewing.com
Colorado
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