Create Better Compositions by Design The path to better painting begins with Mastering Composition. This effective guide blends clear, visual instruction with 5 step-by-step demonstrations to show you how to plan and paint your best work yet. Composition is the key, and here you'll learn to design paintings with new skill and confidence. It all begins with the armature or structure of the picture plane. Every great painting has one, and you'll see through several famous examples exactly how the Old Masters used armatures to create movement, narrative, harmony and fluidity. Based on these examples, you'll practice what you've learned following a series of hands-on demonstrations. Once you understand the basic principles of design, you'll be amazed at how quickly and effectively your compositions come together. Soon you will be painting more boldly and confidently than ever before with less reworking and overworking. Whether you're a beginner looking for basic instruction or a more advanced painter troubleshooting a specific problem, the proven methods in this book will work for you. Ideal for all mediums, Mastering Composition gives you the knowledge you need to create powerful paintings out of every subject.

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To many academics, composition still represents typewritten texts on 8.5" x 11" pages that follow rote argumentative guidelines. In Toward a Composition Made Whole, Jody Shipka views composition as an act of communication that can be expressed through any number of media and as a path to meaning-making. Her study offers an in-depth examination of multimodality via the processes, values, structures, and semiotic practices people employ every day to compose and communicate their thoughts. Shipka counters current associations that equate multimodality only with computer, digitized, or screen-mediated texts, which are often self-limiting. She stretches the boundaries of composition to include a hybridization of aural, visual, and written forms. Shipka analyzes the work of current scholars in multimodality and combines this with recent writing theory to create her own teaching framework. Among her methods, Shipka employs process-oriented reflection and a statement of goals and choices to prepare students to compose using various media in ways that spur their rhetorical and material awareness. They are encouraged to produce unusual text forms while also learning to understand the composition process as a whole. Shipka presents several case studies of students working in multimodal composition and explains the strategies, tools, and spaces they employ. She then offers methods to critically assess multimodal writing projects. Toward a Composition Made Whole challenges theorists and compositionists to further investigate communication practices and broaden the scope of writing to include all composing methods. While Shipka views writing as crucial to discourse, she challenges us to always consider the various purposes that writing serves.

An invaluable introduction to the art and craft of musical composition from a distinguished teacher and composer This essential introduction to the art and craft of musical composition is designed to familiarize beginning composers with principles and techniques applicable to a broad range of musical styles, from concert pieces to film scores and video game music. The first of its kind to utilize a style-neutral approach, in addition to presenting the commonly known classical forms, this book offers invaluable general guidance on developing and connecting musical ideas, building to a climax, and other fundamental formal principles. It is designed for both classroom use and independent study.

This book brings together contemporary authors and well-respected creative writing instructors and theorists to explore ways creativity in composition may be encouraged in student writers. The question in this anthology is not 'Can writing be taught?' but 'How can we inspire students to embrace the creative process no matter what they write?'

Create art that's more attractive, interesting and eye-catching! Even if your perspective is accurate, your subject realistic and colors vibrant, a weak composition - predictable, repetitious or monotonous - means a weak painting. The Simple Secret to Better Painting ensures that your compositions work every time. It's an insightful artistic philosophy that boils down the many technical principles of composition into a single master rule that's easy to remember and apply: Never make any two intervals the same. You can make every painting more interesting, dynamic and technically sound by varying intervals of distance, length and space, as well as intervals of value and color. The rule also applies to balance, shape and the location of your painting's focal point. Greg Albert illustrates these lessons with eye-opening examples from both beginning and professional artists, including Frank Webb, Tony Couch, Kevin Macpherson, Charles Reid, Tony Van Hasselt and more. You'll discover that the ONE RULE is the only rule of composition you need to immediately improve your work - the moment your brush touches the canvas.

The perfect supplement to any young piano student's first lessons! Encourage their natural creativity with this fun approach. This title has received the iParenting Media award as one of the Excellent Products of 2006." "

What are the secrets of great landscape painting? Discover them in a straightforward, highly visual and enjoyable way with this unique handbook that will quickly become an indispensable companion for painting landscapes in oils, acrylics, pastels etc. Designed as much for beginners as for experienced artists, it is a complete and engaging practical guide to landscape painting. Highly visual, straightforward and easy to use, this manual is an indispensable tool in discovering the secrets hidden beneath great paintings and how to apply them to your own work. Designed both for those new to landscape painting and artists experienced within the genre, this is a comprehensive practical guide that is engaging and inspiring. Illustrated in collaboration with some of the best contemporary landscape painters, the book has hundreds of images and diagrams, as well as QR links to complementing videos , which help readers understand and put to use the techniques and information set out in each chapter. You will discover composition as your greatest ally in depicting landscapes at their most engaging as well as how to maximise your creative experience and process. You will: Get to know and learn to use essential compositional resources for successful paintings. Improve the spatial depth and three-dimensionality of your landscapes Establish visual pathways through your paintings to attract and hold the viewer ́s attention. Identify which types of landscapes are interesting to paint. Discover better formats, framing and view-points. You will also learn how to: In summary - an essential guide for learning to paint and to appreciate landscapes. Create and reinforce a focal point to increase a painting ́s intensity. Highlight or adjust elements of a landscape, depending on what you wish to express. Master the different perspective types applicable to landscapes. Decide the most appropriate pictorial treatment for each area of a painting, depending on its role within the painting. José Payá is the director of "Gaia, Centro de Estudios de Arte y Restauración" (Gaia Centre for the Study of Art and Restauration), the most prestigious art school in Valencia (Spain) and has taught landscape painting since 1992. As a result of his desire to improve amateur learning and to address shortcomings he has detected in the range of books available teaching landscape painting, his series ̈The Secrets of Landscape Painting: Landscape Painting and Composition) was born. This is the first volume, to be followed by six additional titles. His work is available to view and purchase at www.josepaya.es.

7th Edition, 8th printing of the original 1941 publication, many added color plates and addenda by Evelyn Payne Hatcher, the artist/author's daughter. A must for art collectors, artists, teachers and art dealers.