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| Reader's Choice for Figure Placement |
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| Upside Down Shows Line Flow |
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In an earlier blog I put the question to readers as to the placement and selection of the figures in the downtown Boston Red Trolley painting. Their were several options presented in which black silhouetted figures were temporarily placed on the painting and photographed to review the best impact on the composition. The responses were varied and in analyzing them another option altogether has emerged.
Placement: Every response suggested an option wherein the center of interest figure(s) was placed in the "southeast" sweet spot (envision a superimposed grid of thirds). One reader verbalized the armature: the eye enters into the painting on the roof of the Marriott, travels down the building tiers on a diagonal, along the top of the trolley, down the rear of the trolley, then intersects the vertical of the figure. We can verify this placement by looking at the painting upside down. The major lines point to that spot.
Size and importance: Most responses chose a large figure(s) in the immediate foreground. This option might be pleasing because it balances the large building in the background. A couple of readers liked the baby carriage (a figurative trolley of mom and child), and one further suggested flipping that form around so that they are heading away from the busy scene.
I played with that option and decided that the original baby carriage silhouette was too big and really belonged in the crosswalk, and hence would be smaller. So as to still have some visual impact, I added the mother and father with a baby carriage, although I kept their colors muted, because in retrospect, it was the red trolley that I was originally attracted to.
They are probably heading to the Aquarium, don't you think?
Thank you to my readers for all the feedback!
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| Red Trolley - Boston Waterfront |
In an earlier blog I put the question to readers as to the placement and selection of the figures in the downtown Boston Red Trolley painting. Their were several options presented in which black silhouetted figures were temporarily placed on the painting and photographed to review the best impact on the composition. The responses were varied and in analyzing them another option altogether has emerged.
Placement: Every response suggested an option wherein the center of interest figure(s) was placed in the "southeast" sweet spot (envision a superimposed grid of thirds). One reader verbalized the armature: the eye enters into the painting on the roof of the Marriott, travels down the building tiers on a diagonal, along the top of the trolley, down the rear of the trolley, then intersects the vertical of the figure. We can verify this placement by looking at the painting upside down. The major lines point to that spot.
Size and importance: Most responses chose a large figure(s) in the immediate foreground. This option might be pleasing because it balances the large building in the background. A couple of readers liked the baby carriage (a figurative trolley of mom and child), and one further suggested flipping that form around so that they are heading away from the busy scene.
I played with that option and decided that the original baby carriage silhouette was too big and really belonged in the crosswalk, and hence would be smaller. So as to still have some visual impact, I added the mother and father with a baby carriage, although I kept their colors muted, because in retrospect, it was the red trolley that I was originally attracted to.
They are probably heading to the Aquarium, don't you think?
Thank you to my readers for all the feedback!
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