Creative Artist - AU (2020-02)

I’veusedthecirclecomposition a few

timesincludingthefollowingpelican and

zebras.(FIgs 15 and16)

Getupcloseandpersonal

Youcanhavesomerealfunwith art,

definitelywithwildlifeart,andnowadays

withdigitalcamerasit’ssoeasyto rattle

offhundredsofphotosto findthe ones

thatarejustrightto workwith.I spend

a lotoftimewithanimalsandtry to gain

theirtrust,butsomeanimalsmake it so

easy.A kangaroowasoncevery curious

ofmycameraandI gotthisdistorted

imagewhichI wasableto showin the

following scratchboard, “Up close and

personal” (Fig 17)

You can use similar tricks to get cute

images like my pastel sketch of a meerkat

with its head turned upwards (Fig 18),

checking out any threats that may be

coming from the sky but in the process

looking adorable. I’ve used a high angle,

looking down on the meerkat which further

emphasises that cute appeal.

Top heavy compositions

This zebra (Fig 19) was a commission from

a friend who had a narrow sliver of wall

between a window and the corner of his

room, and he wanted a piece of art to fill

that space. I chose to place my zebra from

Etosha in Namibia at the top, and coupled

with its reflection it clearly dominates the

top third. This creates a strong composition

and I’ve been able to use this to balance off

the orange dusty colours at the top with a

large expanse of complementary blue at the

bottom. You can often use large areas of

negative space to balance powerful subjects

(in this case the black and white stripes

which are also repeated in the reflection).

Diagonals

Diagonals are great for sparking up a

composition and creating visual interest.

Fig 14

Fig 16

Fig 15

58 artists

TOOLS By PaTrick HedgeS