The Red Barn

...The Red Barn...

oil on panel - 6" x 6"

How's this for an "S" shaped composition? There really was a road curving uphill to the barn, but it didn't curve this much. I exaggerated the curve to hopefully make the painting more pleasing to the eye. According to the book, Composition of Outdoor Painting, by Edgar Payne, "The dominant curves and slanting lines in this type generally suggest grace and movement and an easy relation of the parts."

By the way, I have found this book to be one of the most useful books I own. When planning a painting, I like to try out different compositional arrangements in a sketchbook first. I know, the wording is old fashioned (it was first published in 1941), but it has more actual principles that you can use than almost any of the art instruction books published today. If you are a painter who does outdoor subjects, I highly recommend it. I had considered at some point doing a book review on it, but there is so much in it, that would be hard to do in a single post.

I hope you are having beautiful weather and can get out and paint!