shape of things_skillbuilders

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SEVERAL YEARS AGO I made a

discovery that changed the way I view

nature and the way how I approach

the problem of painting: I call it the

principle of the organizational shape.

Tis new approach changed what I

look for in subject matter, how I go

about composing a painting and what

I think about when finishing a piece.

An organizational shape is a type

of massed shape. Massing is the act

of combining small shapes to make

a larger shape. Te shapes which are

massed are typically of similar value.

Tese combined smaller shapes are

either overlapping, touching or in

close proximity to one another. (While

massing is usually done by value, it

To begin Coastal Land(15x19), I limited

myself to thinking in terms of values only.

I set up the design by firs t blocking in

the dark value, thereby est ablishing the

organizational shape.

Te Shape of TingsThinking about the organizing shape in a composition can bolster a design

and lead to a whole new level of excitement.

SKILL BUILDERSBY DOUG DAWSON

14 www.pasteljournal.com
http://www.pasteljournal.com/?lid=pasjhar040312http://www.pasteljournal.com/?lid=pasjhar040312


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can also be constructed around hue,

intensity, color temperature, etc.)

An organizational shape is a massed

shape that dominates a painting. Tis

dominant shape is a result of its value,

size and location in the painting. Its the

primary shape around which all other

shapes in the painting are organized.

Its because of its importance in the

composition that I call it the organiza-tional shape. Although it doesnt work

in every painting, the concept can be

applied to all subjectswhether figure,

landscape or still l ife. You can find

examples of an organizational shape

in the best work of many artists from

the past and present.

I first discovered this compositional

idea through my practice of thumb-

nail sketches. I had always begun a

painting with sma ll black-and-white

sketches to act as a sort of blueprintfor the piece. I typically limited my

values in a thumbnail to fou r: dark,

dark-middle, light-middle and light.

I often experimented with different

sequences, sometimes starting with

the darkest values; sometimes with one

of the middle values; and sometimes I

would isolate the light value by blocking

everything else in with one value. What

I discovered was that for some paintings,

blocking in the dark values first told me

all I needed to know. Te area in which

those dark values massed into a large

dark shape established the composition,

In this thumbnail for Coastal Landone

of the first in which I learned to see the

organizational shapesthe dark tree trunks

overlap groups of trees in the distance.

OUT ON THE EDGE

Another discovery Ive made by thinking about the organizational

shape is that massed shapes that are made up of dif ferent types of

objects are usually more interesting than massed shapes made up

of a single object. For example, a massed shape made up of a house

and a tree is more interesting than one made of trees alone. It has to

do with edges. When the massed shape is a combination of different

types of objectseach with unique contoursthe edges take on an in-

triguing, unpredictable quality

that engage the viewer. In the

pastel study, London Town, for

example, the massed shape

has edges that are character-

istic of a bus, shadows on the

street, people on the sidewalk

and architecture.

In the thumbnail you can see how

the variety of edges enriches the

organizational shape.

London Town Study(8x9)

Pastel Journal February 2012 15


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and I didnt even need to fill in the

sketch with the other three values.

Sorting the Shapeshe simplest type of organizational

shape is one that is made up of smaller

massed dark shapes. Te painting

Coastal Land(on page 14) is an example

in which the organizational shape is

the dark value.From my experimentation Ive found

that for some painting problems, start-

ing with the dark middle valueand

adding the darkest values laterworks

well. Tis seems to be particularly true

with subjects in which the darks are too

scattered and isolated to make a good

massed shape. In this type of organiza-

tional shape, its the dark middle value

that acts as the glue holding everything

together. I think of it as a massed dark

middle shape thats enhanced with

interesting dark shapes. Te painting

Near Forest Lake(above) is an example

of an organizational shape made up of

both dark and dark middle values.

Abstract TinkingA massed shape, and therefore an

organizational shape, is an abstraction.Tis is because its a composite of many

smaller, often unrelated shapes. Years

ago, I read an Andrew Wyeth quote in

which he said that he saw himself as an

abstract artist. I wondered about this

at the time, because I was just a child,

and I thought I knew what abstract

art was, and Andrew Wyeth was not it.

Years later, as an artist myself, I realized

that the same thing could be said of all

the best representational painters; its

just that the real world is the well from

which they draw inspiring abstraction.

When were learning to paint, our first

thoughts are about how to paint rocks,

trees, etc. , but as we move beyond

the how-to, we begin to delight in theabstraction of nature.

Tink of it like a song. With just lyrics

and no melody, it isnt as interesting.

Likewise, a representational painting

without abstract ion doesnt hold our

attention. Te organizational shape

is one of the ways in which delightful

abstraction can be woven into the fabric

of a painting. I love to think a viewer of

my work might go away with a memory

of my painting remaining in his or her

mind much like a lingering melody.est out these ideas. Experiment as

I have. And search out the work of your

favorite painters. See whether you agree

that much of their best work features

well designed organizational shapes.

DOUG DAWSON (www.dougdawson

artist.com) was named a Hall of Fame

artist by t he Pastel Society of America in

200 8. He has taught art in a variety of set-

ti ngs , includ ing The Ar t Studen ts League

of Denver, where he currently offers

classes. He also travels regularl y to teach

workshops across the country.

In this thumbnail for Near Forest Lake,

the beautiful massed shape of the distant

forest caught my eye first. Often the under-side of forest shapes is flat and predictable,

but here, the shape was exciting. It was nat-

ural to carry the organizational shape down

into the rocks surrounding the stream.

I might have approached the composition for Near Forest Lake(25x27) using the light shape

of the stream as the organizational shape, but the dark and dark middle shapes won out.

TO VIEW MORE EX AMPLES OF DOUG DAWSONS PASTEL

PAINTINGS AND CORRESPONDING THUMBNAILS, VISIT W W W.

ARTISTSNETWORK.COM/MEDIUM/PASTEL/DAWSON-ON-SHAPES .

16 www.pasteljournal.com

SKILL BUILDERS
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