Artists & Illustrators - UK (2019-10)

COMPOSITION

MANAGINGTONALVALUES

Compositioncanbedefinedasthe

arrangementofcontrastingmasses

onthepictureplane;whetherthose

massesareshapesofpatternor

colourorareasoflightanddarkit is

theirinteractionthatdeterminesthe

successofanimage.

Alltwo-dimensionalpicturesareat

onceabstractandsubjective,sotobe

trulysuccessfula figurativepainting

mustpresentanengagingsubject,

whilesimultaneouslyworkingasan

arrangementofabstractshapes.

It wastonalcontrastthat

Rembrandtusedtogreatesteffect

inhisportraitpaintings– withhis

figuresinvariablylitfroma single

lightsourceandsetagainsta dark

background.

Tousetoneeffectivelyyouhaveto

beabletoexercisecontroloverthe

valuesoflightanddarkinyour

painting– judgingjusthowlightto

makeyourlightareas,howdarkto

pushyourdarks,and,most

importantly,howtovarythemid-tones

appropriately.

Twothemesthatcharacterise

Rembrandt’suseoftonearehis

strongtonalcontrastsandhiscareful

managementofdarkermid-tones.

ThesubjectsofRembrandt’spaintings

areoftenpickedoutinthelightest

lights,drawingimmediateattention

tothefocusoftheimage– hisface

inSelf-Portraitina FlatCapis a

goodexample.

Themajorityofthesurroundingsare

muchdarker,creatinga verystrong

contrastbetweenthekeysubjectand

everythingelse[seediagrambelow],

butwithinthosedarkareaswesee

carefulcontrolofhisdarkestdarks

anddarkermid-tonessothatasour

eyesadjusttotheshadows,weallow

themtorovemorewidelyaroundthe

scene,inevitablydrawnbacktothe

lightlikemothstoa flame.

In your own work...

Thinkabouthowyouusetonal

contrastwhenyouplanyournext

artwork.Increasingcontrastby

lighteningthelightpartsofyourimage

anddarkeningthedarkpartswill

increasethedramaofyourpaintings,

printsordrawings.Conversely,

decreasingthecontrastinyour

pictureswillunifyareasofanimage,

providinggreaterharmony

andsubtlety.

Whenyouaremakingvisually

representationalwork,youcanstill

makecreativechoicesabouthowyou

representthetonesinyoursubject–

thinkabouta camerathatfaithfully

andunthinkinglyrecordswhatit sees:

withdifferentsettingsofshutter

LEFT Rembrandt

van Rijn, Self-

Portrait in a

Flat Cap, 1642,

oil on panel,

70.4x58.8cm

ABOVE Jake’s diagram shows the rough tonal
arrangement of Self-Portrait in a Flat Cap