Eliza Anderson's Color Journal

Ruppel FEEDBACK LOOP WHILE DRAWING

Ruppel As a designer be able to know when to alter the arrangement of objects. Experiment with the possibilities of a composition. "Don't get hung up on one way to make art. Try out what looks right to you." -Robh Ruppel (page 82)

Ruppel Be willing to make a symbol for complex shapes. Think, "what is the simplest symbol that best describes the shape? Ruppel

Robh Ruppel It is not about the individual pieces in a composition. It is about the larger shapes/design and the idea behind it! Reduce the composition to simple, clear shapes and forms (shadows).  Produce the design in a way that makes the scene easiest to read. Block out the composition in flat colors and large shapes first. Afterwards, model the form.  Find and emphasize the rhythms. Robh Ruppel "Everything is an excuse to show depth, overlap, and form." -Robh Ruppel (page 68)

"The effect of the large mass, the overall, the aggregate PERSPECTIVE is more important than the actual objects." -Rob Ruppel (page 38) Rob Ruppel

Ask yourself: "Is the design interesting in TWO values? Rob Ruppel Find the darkest dark and the lightest light right away. REDUCE REFINE INTERPRET Work back to front. Slowly get the values and drawing right before moving on. Good value design is the clear arrangement of a few tones. 

Robh Ruppel (page 31) Always explore the possibilities with thumbnails. "Searching out the composition should take as much exploration as rendering the image. Ultimately, the staging is what tells the story." -Robh Ruppel

Start by finding the value pattern that best represents the scene! Make design choices, refrain from just copying. Dianne Mize

Getting the initial tones and colors is crucial to setting the illusion of reality. It is in those tonal/color relations that define the realism. The shapes can be very graphic as long as the value relationships are correct. (Pages 14-15, in Graphic L.A. ) Rob Ruppel

Use abstract shapes to represent what we see. Robh Ruppel Tom Kaminski Drawing is symbol making.  See if you can make an image only using abstract shapes and textures. Limit everything to the fewest values.  Zivko Kondic

Norman Rockwell  Tom Lovell Harry Anderson Walter Everett

A series of images from the Hudson River School.

( The First Kiss of Sunlight, Jean-Leon Gerome) "When you draw, form is the important thing. But in painting the first thing to look for the general impression of color... Always paint a direct sketch from nature every day."

( The Forge of the Vulcan , Diego R. Velazquez) Artists didn't have as many available pigments as we do today. The old masters worked with limited color palettes.