Greg Albert - The Simple Secret to Better Painting

the
simple secret
to better painting
How to immediately improve your work with
the golden rule of design

Greg Albert

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about the author

Greg Albert is a graduate of the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Ohio, and has advanced degrees in painting and art history.

He is the Editorial Director of North Light Art Instruction Books, and is the author of Drawing: You Can Do It (1992), a North Light instruction book for beginning artists. He has been teaching drawing and painting in the Art Academy of Cincinnatis community education program for over twenty years. He lives in Cincinnati with his wife and daughter.

The Simple Secret to Better Painting. Copyright 2003 by Greg Albert. Manufactured in China. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by North Light Books, an imprint of F&W Publications, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45236. (800) 289-0963. First edition.

Other fine North Light Books are available from your local bookstore, art supply store or direct from the publisher.

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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Albert, Greg.
The Simple Secret to Better Painting / Greg Charles Albert.1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 1-58180-256-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-1-60061-500-9 (EPUB)
1. PaintingTechnique. 2. Composition (Art) 3. Color in art. 4. Visual Perception I. Title.

ND1475 .A53 2003 2002033786
750.1 8dc21 CIP

Editor: Jennifer Lepore Kardux
Production Editor: Maria Tuttle
Designer: Wendy Dunning
Layout Artist: Karla Baker
Production Coordinator: Mark Griffin

metric conversion chart

to convert	to	multiply by
Inches	Centimeters	2.54
Centimeters	Inches	0.4
Feet	Centimeters	30.5
Centimeters	Feet	0.03
Yards	Meters	0.9
Meters	Yards	1.1
Sq. Inches	Sq. Centimeters	6.45
Sq. Centimeters	Sq. Inches	0.16
Sq. Feet	Sq. Meters	0.09
Sq. Meters	Sq. Feet	10.8
Sq. Yards	Sq. Meters	0.8
Sq. Meters	Sq. Yards	1.2
Pounds	Kilograms	0.45
Kilograms	Pounds	2.2
Ounces	Grams	28.3
Grams	Ounces	0.035

Corner of Chase and Hamilton Greg Albert 20" x 16" (51cm x 41cm) Oil on canvas

dedication

This book is dedicated to my wife, my daughter and my mother: Mary Beth for her unending patience and support, Elizabeth for her spirit and Mom for her prayers.

acknowledgments

My years editing have taught me that every book is a team effort, not the product of one individual. This book could not have happened without the help of the following people, to whom I extend my deepest gratitude: Jennifer Lepore Kardux for her patient and firm direction; Rachel Wolf for her wise counsel from the very beginning; WendyDunning for her wonderful design work; and to all the contributing artists whose work graces the pages of this book.

Most of the ideas in this book are not my original creation, although I hope their synthesis into my concept of the one rule of composition makes them more accessible to painters. I was informed and inspired by many sources, in particular the watercolor instruction books by the two Tonys, TonyCouch and Tony Van Hasselt, who have made many lessons for painters clear and memorable.

table ofcontents

chapter 1
designdynamics

chapter 2
making thingsinteresting

chapter 3
achievingdynamicbalance

chapter 4
pleasingthe eye

chapter 5
tonal valueand contrast

chapter 6
color

chapter 7
still lifes

chapter 8
landscapes

chapter 9
figuresand portraits

introduction

How often do you look at your just-completed painting or drawing and have the nagging feeling it just isnt right? That the picture is not as satisfying as it should or could be? And that you cant quite figure out what would make it better?

You look at your painting and study it. The proportions are right, the perspective is fine and the colors match what you see. Still, something makes the painting look a bit wrong. It doesnt look balanced, or something about the arrangement of the shapes is distracting. It just doesnt work. Youre at a loss as to what is exactly wrong or what to do about it.

This book will not only give you a tool to identify what is wrong with a painting that isnt quite right and what to do to make it better, but it will give you a simple tool to make better paintings from the start. The secret is in designing the painting so it is a great composition.

Like Goldilocks, we want to create a composition with shapes, colors, textures and other elements that are not too dull, not too distressing, but just right.

The secret for designing great compositions

Much has been said about how to design great pictures. Whole books have been written about the art or even science of pictorial composition. Some of it is surprisingly complicated, using the geometry of the ancient Greeks as its base.