Inspiration Concept to Plan a Composition

“Broken” - oil on panel, 50x70cm

Idea - Story Telling

I found the 70 years old doll at a flea market and wondered what the toy or the former owner may have experienced in their life. This was my inspiration to create a still life painting about the ups and downs of fate and the impermanence of existence by adding symbols to construct a narrative.

Picture Plan - Use of Geometrical Pattern

Using mathematical concepts as a strategy to create harmony and plan how a picture will be read was very popular while the Renaissance, and these rules are helpful to organize the elements of the picture until today. Inspired by Alberti’s proportions of beauty, which he described in his books in the early Renaissance, I’ve used the 9/12/16 ratio (double sesquitertia) to arrange the positions of the objects in my composition.

Whether it’s a portrait, landscape or still life, the composition is an essential element of a painting or drawing and builds the foundation of an artwork. Arranging the elements of a painting is like staging a theater scene, directing a movie or conducting a symphony orchestra. By carefully planning positions, shapes and forms, light and shadows or colors, we can communicate our vision, draw attention and lead the viewer through the picture.

By Andrea Steinbauer

Other Strategies

Linear Design

To develop my linear design I decided to use a sight below the eye level. This perspective creates more depth than using eye level and fits well with the circular movement of the spiral I’ve chosen to lead through the painting.

To create interest, I’ve used objects of different shapes, forms, texture and size and contrasted man made objects with the flowers as natural elements, which act as symbols of transience as well. By using dimmed light to produce a low key composition I intended to enhance the mood of paintings theme.

Painting from Life

A still life is the perfect opportunity to paint from life, because you have an ideal sitter with endless patience who will never move. Since the flowers were starting to fade before I could finish the painting, I used color studies to capture their shapes and colors. In addition I made notes about the hue, values and saturation of the rose and the cherry blossom by using the Munsell color scheme.