World-Class Watercolor-- the Whole vs. the Parts
Posted by: Jim in Untagged on Feb 29, 2008
Robert E. Wood always taught that it was important to create a ‘unified whole' within the frame. He called this ‘Containment'. The subject was to be whole, not dependent on anything outside of itself and not leading to anything beyond itself.
Similarly Christopher Alexander in his book, The Nature of Order, explains that everything is coming from the whole. It is an unfolding process in nature where the whole is differentiating itself but doing so with the same underlying algorithm. It is this whole and the underlying algorithms that make forever paintings and it is the job of the artist to use these underlying principles in the design of a successful painting.
Woods List included the following...
Unity
Balance
Containment
Alexander's List is a bit longer....
Levels of Scale
Strong Centers
Boundaries
Levels of Scale
Strong Centers
Boundaries
Alternating Repetition
Positive Space (no leftovers)
Good Shapes
Local Symmetries
Deep Interlock and Ambiguity
Contrast
Gradients
Roughness
Echoes
The Void
Simplicity and Inner Calm
Non-Separateness
What we find is that these same principles go beyond just painting and into all pursuits in the world. Anything that seems to have the ‘forever' feel seems to have more of these than not involved in its design.
