When you are out on the field or when selecting reference photos, draw an imaginary line down the middle and compare both sides to see if they are quite diverse in the information. The mountain range below looks asymmetrical, but the weight of the trees, the pond and the grass is about the same on both sides. If we put this photo in front of a mirror and reverse the image, it won’t change much. It is doubtful this photo, without dramatically changing one of the sides, would make a successful painting. You will encounter many situations like this. Another key to being a successful artist is to know which elements will work in a painting and which ones won’t. Some photos would make great posters, but good paintings will not necessarily result from them.
Try to avoid having competing visual information on both sides of the image.
If you looked at this Grand Canyon scene in real life, it would be breathtaking. If you put this in front of a mirror, both sides are too similar. As soon as you crop it, the visual information ends suddenly and does not gradually fade out in the peripheral vision. The duplicate sides will become very noticeable. Therefore we have to make the scene very entertaining to hold the viewer’s attention.
This is from the same scene in the reference photo on the previous page. The group of rocks in the foreground was not in the original photo. Because two different views on each side was a priority, the vertical rocks were imported from a different photo. Think of your artwork like a movie script. Incorporate several photos to form a story board. You can literally move mountains with your artistic license. There are now two visually different sides to the painting.
The cactus plants in the foreground of this painting serve the purpose of offsetting parallel sides.
Normally when we paint blue skies or grass it is very easy to provide the viewer with the same visual information on both sides. This can lead to a boring outcome, and both corners will become rivals. Being aware of this will help you design your skies or foregrounds better. You can have a blue sky showing in one corner and a cloud on the other. The trees were purposely brought to the top to offset similar corners in the sky. The values of the water in the bottom corners are different.
This plein air painting shows a blue sky in the left corner and white clouds in the right corner. When I painted this outdoors, there was no blue sky. Skies will have blue areas, white clouds and clouds with shadows when they accumulate moisture for rain. Take advantage of these weather variances to offset equal corners on opposite sides. If you don’t see them, then invent them or use an additional reference photo.
Careful consideration was given to just indicate a few individual bricks. The viewer will fill in the missing information.