Page 229 - sarah-simblet_sketch-book-for-the-artist

229

WHERE TO START BEING "JUST"

Take ten sticks of equal length, painted black.
Within a rectangle on a flat sheet of paper set
about making a composition using no other rule
than a sense of "just." Move the sticks to find
alignments and imagined perspectives. W h e n
the composition falls into place, fix it with glue.

1Arrange your ten sticks in two
groups of five, as shown here. Feel
for the rightness of their grouping and
their relationships to surrounding spaces.
Remember the drawn rectangle is a part
of the composition (see pp.56-57).

2 Move the sticks out into the
rectangle, which now becomes a
tight frame. Arrange them so they touch
or cross in a series of intersecting balances.
A stick touching the rectangle links the
composition to the frame.

3 In the step above, horizontals
dominate the lower area, suggesting
a horizon. Here, horizontals dominate the
top, making the composition seem to float
beneath. In the final step (left) there is an
even balance.