The rule of odds is without doubt one of the easiest—but most dramatic—design ideas you possibly can apply to your composition and portray course of.
by Carrie Waller
How can I make my artwork extra impactful as a way to higher catch a viewer’s consideration? It’s a query my college students ask me extra typically than every other. I’m all the time thrilled to deal with this subject. There are lots of ideas, or guidelines, of design that I cowl in my artwork courses—and a fundamental understanding of these ideas is important to compositional success. I perceive, nonetheless, that it may well typically be tough to determine precisely which design guidelines to comply with, when to comply with them and when it’s OK to interrupt them.
The rule of odds is one design precept I all the time attempt to comply with. The rule suggests {that a} composition is more practical when it has an odd variety of objects or components. It may be utilized to any type of artwork, from portray to images, and to any topic, from panorama to nonetheless life.
Our brains naturally wish to pair issues as much as create visible symmetry, so a murals might be extra visually fascinating if the viewer’s eye travels across the composition in search of one other object to finish the set. The rule of odds is without doubt one of the best methods to attain that objective.
Examine Celebration (left) with Hearth and Mild (proper). Whereas each work are hanging, the composition that includes a set of three jars is a extra energetic and visually thrilling design.
Demonstration: Might Comprise Pits
Comply with alongside to see how I apply the precept of the rule of odds to a still-life portray.
Artists Toolkit
Floor: Arches 156-lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper
Daniel Smith Watercolors: Bismuth Vanadate yellow, Bordeaux, Payne’s blue-gray, quinacridone burnt orange, quinacridone purple, quinacridone magenta, quinacridone gold, pyrrol orange, pyrrol crimson, phthalo inexperienced (blue shade), sap inexperienced, opera pink, 50-50 indigo-sepia combination (the darkest darkish)
Brushes: 1-inch flat, Nos. 2 and 4 rounds, scrubber
Different: Holbein masking fluid, white, acid-free artist’s tape, paper towels, chambered water bucket, corrugated plastic board, ruling pen (or different masking applicator)
Step 1
All of my work start with a photograph shoot. I benefit from the planning and design stage virtually as a lot because the precise portray stage. The design course of is 95 % full earlier than I ever put brush to paper. I exploit my telephone to take reference pictures, then view them within the picture grid in my telephone’s picture library. They function at-a-glance thumbnail sketches, and I can rapidly see if I captured any profitable photos. As soon as I determine on a picture, I adapt it utilizing my telephone’s enhancing program after which import it into Photoshop to proceed the enhancing course of. I mark my favourite photos with a coronary heart to make them simpler to search out later, as you possibly can see in just a few of the pictures marked within the grid of images above.
Step 2
After selecting a picture, I accomplished my drawing and transferred it to watercolor paper, which I taped to a corrugated plastic board. Since this can be a 23×30-inch piece, I allowed the cherry jars to be somewhat bigger than life. I began with the jar on the proper, making use of masking fluid thinly and evenly to guard my whites. I knew these white reflections could be essential to creating the jars look shiny and lifelike. I started portray the cherries one by one. As all the time, I was cautious to ensure if I launched a coloration—at the same time as an underglaze—that I’d use it in at the very least three completely different locations. I do that as a result of because the preliminary washes are constructed upon, the start glazes will have an effect on the colour temperature of the entire portray. It additionally continues to implement the rule of odds.
Step 3
The cherries had been backlit within the picture reference. To attain the attractive glowing coloration of the fruit, I constructed up skinny glazes of reds, yellows, oranges and vibrant pinks. Every cherry required as much as a dozen layers to get the values and degree of saturation that I needed. I’m proud of the glow I achieved in the long run.
Step 4
I accomplished one space at a time earlier than shifting on to the remainder of the portray. This can be a course of I’ve adopted to assist be certain that my values are established and that I’ll have a profitable finish end result. I made positive to incorporate an odd variety of cherry shapes throughout the jar to maintain the viewer’s eye shifting across the composition. The little containers pictured on the left are my watercolors. I make my very own pans utilizing these containers I discovered at a ironmongery shop. I do all my coloration mixing proper on the paper, which ensures vibrant and clear glazes.
Step 5
The second jar of cherries additionally incorporates an odd variety of shapes. I added deeper values to direct the viewer’s eye to the middle jar and these darker colours assist make the yellow glow stand out much more. I subtly positioned a teal coloration on the backside of the middle jar, as a result of the addition of a complementary coloration all the time provides curiosity.
Closing
To complete Might Comprise Pits (watercolor on paper, 23×30), I strategically positioned the complementary teal coloration in 5 completely different areas on the backside of the composition. Implementing the rule of odds within the early design phases contributed to the general success of this portray.
In regards to the Artist
Carrie Waller teaches workshops on-line and in individual. She’s an envoy for Daniel Smith Watercolors and holds Signature Membership in a number of prestigious watercolor organizations, together with the Nationwide Watercolor Society and the American Watercolor Society. Her work have been exhibited all around the world and have garnered many awards—together with Better of Present within the 2023 Girls in Watercolor Worldwide Competitors.