When composing an abstract painting there are no limits to what can be achieved. In this example, I established a textured-outline with black ink, and coloured it in with watercolours. The composition features a prominent tree occupying about half of the painting surface, a lush field of grass, and a city-scape on the horizon line. A silhouette of a cat is perched upon a branch. The cat is positioned at approximately the upper-middle quadrant of the picture, which is one of the traditional location to put a focal point.
Country Cat, Night, watercolour and ink, 5 x 7" cold press, 2008 (No. 1465)
In this small study, the focal point is located centrally which draws the eye into the glowing pink stained-glass. To break the symmetry, there is an off-center window in the background, and two differently-sized stone structures in the foreground. A purely symmetrical composition is usually considered bad form. Ideally the view will easily look at all parts of the painting, not just one part.
A Mind Glowing Time, watercolour 3 x 4.5" cold press, 2003 (No. 1467)
Here, I employed a traditional Chinese composition, where the painting contains a large open space. The elements are connected by your imagination. Obviously the bird is leaping off a branch, perhaps heading down to the ground. I got the idea from a painting by a master painter called Shec Von Luc which employed this technique. More recently I have been following some ideas from Japanese compositions which differ from Chinese in that they liked to fill all the space, and make prolific use of triangles and overlapping.
Nest From Above, watercolour 3 x 4.5" cold press, 2017 (No. 1466)
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