Artist of the Week. Lori McNee Fine Art and Tips

Posted by Jo Murphy May 8, 2009

“Composition,” according to Lori McNee artist and teacher,” is the selective arrangement of elements in a painting.” The artist’s goal, she says, is to lead the viewer’s eye into and around the painting while keeping interest in the focal point.

"Think of it like feng shui. Most artists make preparatory sketches using pencil or charcoal to record the light and dark (yin/yang) masses and positive and negative (yin/yang) shapes,” she continues on her blog called Lori McNee Fine Art and Tips.

When she talks like this, Lori is drawing our attention to the idea that opposites attract. It is through the tension created by their relationship to each other that a pleasing and well balanced composition can be developed by the painter. This balancing of relationship can be an intuitive process for artists who work with "ying/yang and don’t even know it!" Once this balance has been achieved, Lori says, artists use their painterly skills to work with the elements until they become settled, developed and harmonious.

Lori pursues this Chinese way of talking about yin/yang philosophy, when she explains how visual pathways indicate the energy of chi in the painting. This dynamic tension creates a lyrical movement of opposing forces, which govern the balance and movement of the composition.

In Spring Dream the viewer’s eye is pleased by the way it is asked to move through the painting. Within the image the eye can be caused to move about by many qualities. In this picture the audience is immediately caused to look to see where the birds are looking. “Are they looking at each other?”

The flow of the twigs and sprigs that the small creatures are perched on also encourage the viewer to wonder, “Are they in the same tree?”

This painting has a soft, subtle aura created by a very light focal point which emanates from behind the two birds. Illuminated by this light source they work together to produce a feeling of presence. The lines of the twigs lead the eye in a meandering fashion to the edges of the painting. The softness of the flowers that sit upon them produces a kind of solidity that adds strength through the random patterning.

There are many more bird pictures in the gallery on Lori McNee.com and many fine informational articles updated frequently on the Blog Lori McNee Fine Art and Tips. Resource: Article About Lori Lori McNee on Developing an Arts Based Practice