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    Opposites Attract: A Guide to Understanding and Using Contrast Effectively
    Opposites Attract: A Guide to Understanding and Using Contrast Effectively
    Opposites Attract: A Guide to Understanding and Using Contrast Effectively
    Ebook118 pages47 minutes

    Opposites Attract: A Guide to Understanding and Using Contrast Effectively

    By Graham Flatt BFCA

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    About this ebook

    Ever notice how some paintings grab your attention right away and others just seem to go unnoticed? Chances are, those that jump out at you and get noticed have one or more aspects of contrast hard at work for them. Contrast equals impact. The more contrast you have, the more powerful is your visual statement. This book walks you through the hows and whys of using contrast to create bold, impressive paintings.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTrafford Publishing
    Release dateApr 1, 2014
    ISBN9781490730653
    Opposites Attract: A Guide to Understanding and Using Contrast Effectively
    Author

    Graham Flatt BFCA

    To transform the general misconception of what watercolor can be, to invoke a visceral response from the viewer, and to leave them wanting more. Graham Flatt is an international watercolorist known widely for his abstract landscape and unconventional use of the medium. His concrete understanding of design and composition coupled with his humorous nature makes him a sought-after instructor. Dubbed the Monty Python of Watercolor, he is refreshing in his approach to breaking the rules of watercolor and embracing the students’ individual process. Graham’s unique approach to painting and teaching ensures that this is not just another how-to book.

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      Book preview

      Opposites Attract - Graham Flatt BFCA

      Order this book online at www.trafford.com

      or email orders@trafford.com

      Most Trafford titles are also available at major online book retailers.

      © Copyright 2014 .

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

      ISBN:

      978-1-4907-3066-0 (sc)

      ISBN:

      978-1-4907-3065-3 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2014905014

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Our mission is to efficiently provide the world’s finest, most comprehensive book publishing service, enabling every author to experience success. To find out how to publish your book, your way, and have it available worldwide, visit us online at www.trafford.com

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      Trafford rev. 03/26/2014

      4623.png www.trafford.com

      North America & international

      toll-free: 1 888 232 4444 (USA & Canada)

      fax: 812 355 4082

      OPPOSITES

      ATTRACT

      15247.png

      A Guide to Understanding and Using Contrast Effectively

      Contents

      FOREWORD

      PREFACE

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      INTRODUCTION

      Chapter – 1 DESIGN and COMPOSITION

      Chapter – 2 VALUE: Dark, Light, and All Things in Between

      Chapter – 3 Colour: Understanding the Various Aspects of Colour Contrast

      Chapter – 4 Things are getting a little Edgy: Hard and Soft, Lost and Found

      Chapter – 5 Rounding the Bend or Going Straight: Contrasting Line and Direction

      Chapter – 6 It’s All in the Details (or Lack Thereof): Abstraction versus Realism

      Chapter – 7 A Matter of Degrees: Contrasting Temperature

      CONCLUSION

      FOREWORD

      by Loraine Bogatko

      An Abstract for Graham Flatt

      The abstract is the backbone of good art. If the artist ignores, avoids, or for any reason fails to grasp the dynamics of abstraction, his art tends to become trivialized, and it is limited by this failure. Enslaved to realism, it is typically belaboured and mechanical and in danger of becoming tedious and boring. It does not excite the spirit because it lacks the elements of spirit. And when one looks at it, however greatly one may be impressed by the technical rendering or witty style, one’s spirit cannot soar, for the essence of joy, freedom, and wonder are borne on the wings of the abstract.

      And while in nature they consist of wind (air), light, and water, the elements of the abstract counterpart are form, light, and space. And like those in nature, the elements of abstract are the birthplace of everything else. Abstract is the little trinity of the art world, out of which all else originates. Without going any further, an abstract can invoke a mood or feeling, suggest a thought, or imply an idea.

      Yet without pursuing the other dynamics of art, it renders one but a child. It is only milk, not solid food. While childlikeness is necessary to enter into liberty and creativity, it is still not enough. It must be combined with the maturity of technical style, which is the language, the word of the artist.

      The better one knows how to employ the vocabulary of technique, line, tone, perspective, all the elements of technical rendering, the better one can express the artistic thought.

      The test of a real master is the ability to marry the simplicity, freedom, and beauty of abstract fearlessly, yet with finesse and understanding, to an execution of technical craftsmanship.

      PREFACE

      I vividly remember my first real encounter with watercolour. I was in high school and was fortunate to have had a brilliant watercolourist as my teacher. I recall being endlessly fascinated as he moved the brush seemingly effortlessly and how the marks he left behind on the paper came alive and stitched themselves into an amazing little painting. I now realize that those exercises he was doing was him just having some fun and playing around.

      Since high school ended, I have actively pursued

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