Rhythm and Texture

N.B., Click on images to zoom.

'By the River Dee, near Corwen'
Oil Pastel on Paper. 

Click here for comments by other artists on this work, or to order cards/prints.

This is one of my favourite drawing spots, down by the river Dee, on the approach to Corwen from Rhug. There are a row of standing stones (probably functional rather than ceremonial) that follow the line of the river. 

In this picture I was looking at the normal lie of the land and so on, but also I was trying to 'extract' the rhythms that can be half-seen in the movement of the branches and the shadows criss-crossing the field. 

Not that I was deliberately 'abstracting' the landscape - but let's face it, when these rhythms are discovered, and they have the effect of strengthening the composition, then it's foolish to ignore them. They can usually be more clearly seen by half-closing the eyes, and squinting at the picture. 

The ability to discern patterns in what looks at first like random shapes is a basic human trait that has significant evolutionary roots and is pertinent to our survival.

The human brain is hardwired to recognise patterns, even in random, meaningless noise. 

Michael Shermer call it 'Patternicity; Finding Meaningful Patterns in Meaningless Noise'. According to Shermer, this tendency toward identifying patterns and assigning causal relationship is crucial regarding our ability to survive in nature, and it's something we've evolved to do very well. 

As Shermer explains in a 2010 TedTalk, '...Imagine you are a hominid three million years ago walking on the plains of Africa, and you hear a rustle in the grass. Is it a dangerous predator, or is it just the wind? Your next decision could be the most important one of your life. Well, if you think that the rustle in the grass is a dangerous predator and it turns out it's just the wind, you've made an error of cognition.....but no harm. You just move away. On the other hand, if you believe that the rustle in the grass is just the wind, and it turns out it's a dangerous predator, you're lunch. You've just won a Darwin award. You've been taken out of the gene pool'.

This type of learning by association is prevalent in all types of animals.

In the case of humans, our ability to spot patterns is quite sophisticated. Unfortunately, the brain can also be easily tricked into seeing patterns where none exist (e.g., shapes in the clouds, faces in wood grain or voices in white noise). 

From 'Why There Is No God', by Armin Navabi:

(Pareidolia (/pærɨˈdoʊliə/ parr-i-doh-lee-ə) is a psychological phenomenon involving a stimulus (an image or a sound) wherein the mind perceives a familiar pattern of something where none actually exists.

Common examples are perceived images of animals, faces, or objects in cloud formations, the "man in the moon", the "moon rabbit", and hidden messages within recorded music played in reverse or at higher- or lower-than-normal speeds.)

Of course all painters use this pattern-perception faculty as a part of the creative artistic process. If I remember correctly Leonardo was keen on deliberately searching for patterns or images on heavily textured walls, or while looking intently into a fire. The surrealists were just one group of artists who were fascinated by this process of discovering patterns or recognisable objects in what appears to be random shapes. For example.......

Dali found a black and white photograph of an african village (above left). He looked carefully and then spotted what looked like a portrait head emerging from the overall shapes.

In his painting (above right) he copied the photograph in colour and he emphasised certain tones and shapes to reveal the (hidden) portrait. It can be clearly seen when you turn your head to the left. 

In this case Dali, like the other Surrealists, used this process of pattern-recognition to produce images which were unexpected and dreamlike. 

But most, if not all artists, who paint recognisable realistic images search for pattern and repetition simply to strengthen their compositions, or for other reasons.

The other element to manage is the texture. Of course, when using a media with as much personality as oil pastel, textures emerge of themselves as part and parcel of the struggle to control such a media. But also texture arrives as a natural part of the observing and drawing process. 

It's obviously important to be in control of any media that is being used and with something as tricky as oil pastel, the ability to avoid sludgy-ness is key. This can be done by working gently at first, as layers are built up, and also by 'fixing' each layer with oil pastel fixative. 

             quiz  quiz quiz  quiz  quiz       “details, details............”    quiz  quiz  quiz  quiz  quiz          

Any idea who painted this plant pot, and in which picture?

(The answer will be in the next posting.)

And here's the answer from the last posting -

'The Embarkation for Cythera'.  

by Watteau, 1717, The Louvre, Paris

             quiz  quiz quiz  quiz  quiz       “details, details............”    quiz  quiz  quiz  quiz  quiz          

"Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing." 

Camille Pissarro

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. . . . and now, a Recommended Read . . . .

Secret Knowledge.

by David Hockney

I think that anyone involved in  drawing or painting has known for a long time now that many western artists in the past used lens media to give added realism to their work. But in this book Hockney produces clear evidence for this in the most intriguing and scholarly way. A great read, and a must for any artist involved in representational art.

'The book that turned the art world on its head, now with new and exciting discoveries. Hockney takes his thesis further, demonstrating how Renaissance artists used mirrors and lenses to develop perspective and chiaroscuro radically challenging our view of how these two foundations of Western art were established.' . . . Amazon Review

Published on Thames & Hudson

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