Cheat Sheet: Compose Better Paintings

'Summer Profusion'                12x12            pastel              ©Karen Margulis
painting available $175

Are you a 'top of the pile' artist?  Do you use the paper that is on the top of your pile or do you give serious thought to the size/color/type of paper you will use for each painting? Taking a few minutes to figure out the best size and orientation of paper for the subject leads to better paintings.  It only takes a few minutes. In the end it saves much time and angst.

 The orientation/ format of the paper can have a profound impact on how well our concept for the painting comes across.  We have four main choices: Landscape (horizontal) Portrait (vertical)  Square and Panoramic.

How do we decide which one will be best for our subject?  The usual recommendation is to do a thumbnail. I take this advice a step further.  I like to do several QUICK thumbnails trying out each format. I have developed a cheat sheet for my planning.  (see photo below)

Usually one thumbnail will speak to me the loudest. This is the one I paint. Often I like all of them for different reasons. These can all be developed into paintings. 

One image = 5 potential paintings!

My Painting Plan Worksheet in action

 Using the planning worksheet saved me a lot of aggravation on my demo painting. My intention was to use a piece of 12x18 Uart in a portrait orientation. I thought it would be a good format to show the country road going back into the woods.  I set up my paper for the demo. 

I decided to use my planning worksheet and discovered that I really preferred a square format for the painting. In the thumbnail the portrait format wasn't working at all....too much foreground!  So I marked off a square on my paper. Taking a few minutes for planning was well worth my effort! (I probably would have ended up fussing with the foreground until finally cropping it off anyway!)

my 12x18 paper turned into a 12x12 square

my reference photo

 I am offering my planning sheet in my Etsy store. It is a 2 page worksheet which also gives you space for a color study and questions to help you decide on your painting concept. Sure you can use a sketchbook or scrap paper....but the planning sheet ensures you don't skip a step!  Click here for details.