Prince William Art Society (PWAS) is a group of local artists in Prince William County in Northern Virginia dedicated to an appreciation of the visual arts and fine crafts of local artists and this is their Blog, Artistry Spin. Find information about and by PWAS, our events, our Scholarship Program, our artists, our art shows and exhibits plus much more. Many of our artists display art at locations all around Prince William County, Manassas and beyond.
It's not a slippery slope, just do the research and start somewhere! Remember to ALWAYS COVER YOUR COSTS - at all costs!
Local Art: Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5 The Prince William Art Society is a 50-year old non-profit art group in PWC for the the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia.
Want to know how to get involved at OSA? If you are an artist (18 or older) living in Prince William County, or a are a member of a PWC art group, you are welcome to get on our next art show's emailing list. Send it to us, OR come by the gallery to find out more.
Many artists use Photoshop right? Some use it to tweak their designs before transferring the composition to the canvas for painting or for manipulating their photography. Then there is James Fridman, who took Photoshop to the stratosphere.
Humor, the Best Medicine
I
discovered James on Twitter a couple of years ago and quickly became a fan. Have you heard of him? It seems that people would request James to alter something in a photo, even wedding photos, and he would "fix" it for them. Just not the way they had anticipated it to be fixed and he did it hilariously.
Local Art: Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5 The Prince William Art Society is a 50-year old non-profit art group in PWC for the the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia.
Want to know how to get involved at OSA? If you are an artist (18 or older) living in Prince William County, or a are a member of a PWC art group, you are welcome to get on our next art show's emailing list. Send it to us, OR come by the gallery to find out more.
Summer Spotlight on Art Winners at Open Space Arts at Stonebridge
The current art show at the Open Space Arts gallery at 15000 #140 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA is running between June 26 and August 14, 2022. Each art show we have the visitors vote on their favorite art piece and drop the little cards in the box. Well, the public voted and we LOVE announcing the winners! Hmmm, a lot of purple and blues...something to think about??!!
You Came, You Saw, You Voted
And this is how you voted your favorite art pieces currently hanging at the gallery:
1st Place Blue Ribbon - Tom Payne for ”Last Hope”
2nd Place Red Ribbon - Fatima Farzana for “Dreaming in Purple”
3rd Place White Ribbon - Scott McDonald for “Midnight Dunes”
The gallery is FREE to visit, so while you are shopping at Wegmans - well before you buy that ice cream, come by Open Space Arts - across from DSW, next to Ulta on one side and Barnes and Noble and the Loft on the other. Have you visited yet?
Leave your comments below and try NOT to post anonymously!
Local Art: Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5 The Prince William Art Society is a 50-year old non-profit art group in PWC for the the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia.
Want to know how to get involved at OSA? If you are an artist (18 or older) living in Prince William County, or a are a member of a PWC art group, you are welcome to get on our next art show's emailing list. Send it to us, OR come by the gallery to find out more.
Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!
Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA and Artistry Spin Blog Admin, specializing in acrylic
painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects.
Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, Donna's Etsy site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.
Mergers are when key areas of the main subject are overlapped, making it appear weird and should be avoided. Sometimes you can avoid a merger just by moving to the left or right before snapping the photo so that it doesn't look like that branch is growing out of the side of someone's head. Or that rock doesn't appear to be the person's overly large foot.
In photography, we should avoid cutting off people, whether in half, their head or feet, or have someone cut off by the border of the image. These are border mergers and they just aren't the best way to take the image. It is better to leave space around the people or the main subject.
Alternatively, the angle of the viewer - their perspective could be higher or lower angle to avoid weird mergers with whatever is in the background.
Something in the image that is very bright or very dark will draw the eye as discussed in previous Composition posts. Although the use of both is important in a composition, you don't want it to distract from your subject either. In photography, you may be able to crop the image to get a better focus on your subject.
This photo cut off the man's arm and you are not sure who or what the main focus is - the baby, the man or the greenhouse. This is all besides the lighting is very bright and shadows are on the man's face. The poor child needs sunglasses.
Spot the oddity here? One person has 2 heads and 3 legs. The photograph may have worked better if the shot was with each person separately defined against the background.
Typically, we could take a photograph of our subject and then crop it down later to display the best part. Its definitely easier to remove what you don't need than to add.
A funny
merger in real life that I have seen is sitting at the dining room
table with people and there is a painting or photograph framed and
hanging on the wall, often exactly behind the person at the head of the table. So it looks like the person is IN the picture which can be pretty funny. Have you seen a funny merger too?
7 PHOTOGRAPHY MISTAKES I see all the time by Nigel Danson
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This
is part of a series of blog posts on the guidelines, or rules of
composition. Look for all of them in the Search this Blog feature at the top right by searching for the word
"composition". I hope you enjoy the posts!
Local Art:Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5 – it’s free to see the artwork! Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership
Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!
To simplify is to get rid of all the foo-foo and fluff and break the photo or the design down to its purest form. Hence, the essence of the subject tells its own story. Your design doesn't need random stuff unless it is about random stuff.
This could include simple backdrops, zooming in on your subject, changing the camera location sideways or up and down, changing the lighting, or editing the design to let the subject do the talking.
This
is part of a series of blog posts on the guidelines, or rules of
composition. Look for all of them in the Search this Blog feature at the top right by searching for the word
"composition". I hope you enjoy the posts!
Local Art:Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5 – it’s free to see the artwork! Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership
Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!
Try adding layering to your artwork and photography. Composition with layering is stacking 3 or more elemental layers to your design that adds depth, dimension, a sense of space. These layers include whatever is closest to you in the foreground, a distinct middle ground and finally a background.
Foreground
The details, textures, and colors used in the foreground can include objects and/or people. It could be including the beach sand and footprints in the design of an ocean scene. The foreground could be seeing details of rocks and/or flowers before going into the middle ground.
Middle Ground
Whatever is between the foreground and background can be just as interesting as the foreground and can include the actual object or person that is the subject.
Background
The background may or may not be out of focus and is obviously whatever is the furthest away from you. The background may be the sky and the farthest mountain line in the distance. A layer of fog behind the foreground detail and mid-ground subject may emphasize the design and give that depth needed.
A dark wooded foreground leads into several layers of blues in the mountains then to the orangey sky in this photo. The sense of space is fully felt in both of these photographs. Although simplicity in design is typically a very great way to capture and show you subject, looking for a way to layer the design can make for an impressive photo or art piece as well.
______
This
is part of a series of blog posts on the guidelines, or rules of
composition. Look for all of them in the Search this Blog feature at the top right by searching for the word
"composition". I hope you enjoy the posts!
Local Art:Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5 – it’s free to see the artwork! Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership
Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!
Have you tried a "frame within a frame" in your artwork? Composing your photo or artwork may include an element appearing to be sitting inside another element. Framing draws attention and leads to your main subject, adding depth. It draws the eye in, makes the viewer study the picture/painting longer, adds a lot of interest. Give it a try!
This
is part of a series of blog posts on the guidelines, or rules of
composition. Look for all of them in the Search this Blog feature at the top right by searching for the word
"composition". I hope you enjoy the posts!
Local Art: Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5 – it’s free to see the artwork! Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership
Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!