Off-center and diagonal
Here I held my viewfinder so the fig appeared
upper-left in the space, its stem and shadow
framing a white center. The angle of the fruit
together with dark shadow (top left) and bright
light (bottom right) suggest a diagonal division
across the whole drawing, running corner to
corner, bottom-left to top-right.
THE VIEWFINDER
These pencil drawings of figs demonstrate
different crops and compositions. A card with
a small rectangle cut out of it makes a useful
viewfinder Close one eye to look through
the hole, then move the card to explore
different views. Use it as a starting point,
a device to help you decide what to draw.
Touching the edge
When the subject of a drawing touches one
edge of the paper it attaches to it visually.
Here the left fig is attached to, and therefore
apparently suspended from, the uppermost
edge of the drawing. When subjects touch
two or more edges, as also shown here, they
establish a tension and unity with the paper.
Space as the subject
In all pictures, spaces between things are as
important as the things themselves. This drawing
has been cropped to emphasize space between
the fruit. Our focus is on the white cloth
supporting the figs, its illumination, and lines
describing shadows cast by the fruit
CROPPING
AND
COMPOSITION
