A Different Point of View
Entice your audience to look at your artwork by tilting elements, adjusting horizon lines or altering the viewing angle. Repeating images or changing scale can also place your art front and center. As viewers, we are so accustomed to how things are typically displayed that when an unusual element is introduced, it creates excitement and interest. Here are a few ideas to set you on your altered path.
TECHNIQUE ONE: Tilt
By tilting the horizon line, a piece can become less static.
TOO MANY ROMANCE NOVELS
Darlene Olivia McElroy
TECHNIQUE TWO: The Back Side
A figure that faces away from the viewer gives pause. The viewer has a completely different experience with the art and might wonder what the subject is looking at. Imagination creates the storyline. I remember an old tintype I found in which all the subjects faced away from the camera. It aroused so many questions in my mind every time that I looked at it that it has since been burned in my memory.
BUMP
Darlene Olivia McElroy
TECHNIQUE THREE: Focus
By changing the proportion of just a small part of an image, you emphasize a focal point to attract your viewer and guide them through your painting.
I SEE YOU
Darlene Olivia McElroy
More Ideas
• Viewing Angle: Whether from a bird’s-eye view or a worm’s view, change your perspective and you change everything. One easy way to try this is by painting or transferring an image onto a background at a not-so-typical angle. Can’t you just feel the dramatic shift?