28 Artists Magazine May 2020
Build LESSON
PRINCIPLE 2: MOVEMENT
Some objects can imply action and
move the eye through a design. In my
study for my painting The Entomologist,
the scene is really busy, with lots of
objects that are brown in color, which
builds unity. This composition, how-
ever, was built around the green cicada
near the bottom of the image. The
insect wasn’t the intended focal point,
so it was placed in the design in a very
subtle way. To direct the viewer’s eye to
look at it, I used the directional shapes
of the pen and the magnifying glass, as
emphasized in the image at right.In my Study for The Entomologist (below and
at right; 2017; oil on panel, 6x9), the magnifying
glass and pen act as pointing devices to lead
the viewer to look at the cicada.
PRIVATE COLLECTION