COMPOSITION
images. Try to think about how
adding an unusual colour can act as
an additional compositional element
to guide the viewer’s eye around
your picture.
As a rule of thumb, I like to apply the
“iced bun principle” to a simple colour
composition – using a predominance
of one colour (the bun), a moderate
amount of an additional colour
(the icing) and a small amount of a
contrasting colour (the cherry on top).
FRAMING WITH
CONTRASTS
In Hitchens’ 1925 still life Spring in
Eden, the interaction between a
sculpted torso and its reflection is
displayed in pale pastel colours.
Holding us inside the light-suffused
centre of the painting is a cradle of
coloured shapes and painted lines
that are both tonally darker and more
saturated than the centre of the image.
The band of maroon on the
right-hand side of the image is
mirrored running down the left-hand
side of the reflected torso – a dark,
rich colour that holds the eye in the
space between the figures, anchored
to the bottom of the picture plane by
ABOVE Ivon
Hitchens, Spring in
Eden, 1925, oil on
canvas, 49x59.5cm
LEFT The painting
in monochromethe green fruit bowl and the dark
surface on which it rests.
It’s a common device to create
strong tonal contrasts in areas of
focus to draw attention in a painting- think about the areas of bright light
contrasting their dark surroundings in
Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro paintings,
for example. Nevertheless, as you can
see from the black-and-white version
of the painting [left], Hitchens
subverts that norm here, holding the
eye more lightly in the space with the
tonal contrasts set around the edges
of the focal point.
As well as being dark, the framing
colours (the green and the wine red)
are also saturated. Although we often
associate light colours with intensity,
in this instance they remain duller
than their darker counterparts. SWINDON MUSEUM AND GALLERY/PRIVATE COLLECTION © THE ESTATE OF IVON HITCHENS