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  • Artists
    • Abbas
    • Olga Abramovo
    • Nick Alm
    • Christopher Anderson
    • Keliy Anderson-Staley
    • Michael John Angel
    • George Angelini
    • Denise Antaya
    • Juliette Aristides
    • Eric Armusik
    • Eve Arnold
    • Anna-Brith Arnsten
    • Olivia Arthur
    • Steven Assael
    • Igor V. Babailov
    • Anna Rose Bain
    • Garin Baker
    • Allan R. Banks
    • Micha Bar-Am
    • Bruno Barbey
    • Colleen Barry
    • Alan Merris Bell
    • Julie Bell
    • Jonas Bendiksen
    • Ian Berry
    • Gulay Berryman
    • ​Werner Bischof
    • Kirsten Leah Bitzer
    • Matt Black
    • Sarah Blesener
    • David Michael Bowers
    • Roger Dale Brown
    • Paul S. Brown
    • Mary Ross Buchholz
    • Kristie Bruzenak
    • Nadir Bucan
    • Dot Bunn
    • Scott Burdick
    • René Burri
    • John Buxton
    • Antoine Bruy
    • Svetlana Cameron
    • Dario Campanile
    • Enri Canaj
    • Cornell Capa
    • Robert Capa
    • Louis Carr
    • Henri Cartier-Bresson
    • Chien-Chi Chang
    • Turjoy Chowdhury
    • Jacob Collins
    • Mary Jane Q Cross
    • David Andrew Nishita Cheifetz
    • Antoine d'Agata
    • Carla D'aguanno
    • Marcos Damascena
    • Bruce Davidson
    • Carl De Keyzer
    • Jon deMartin
    • Raymond Depardon
    • Bieke Depoorter
    • Stephanie Deshpande
    • Patrick Devonas
    • Paul P D'Haese
    • Marina Dieul
    • Shaun Downey
    • Carolyn Drake
    • Thomas Dworzak
    • Nikos Economopoulos
    • Virgil Elliott
    • Megan K. Euell
    • Philippe Faraut
    • Faripour Forouhar
    • Martine Franck
    • Stuart Franklin
    • Leonard Freed
    • Thomas Freteur
    • Joke Frima
    • Paul Fusco
    • Tina Garrett
    • Gilberto Geraldo
    • Daniel Gerhartz
    • Bruce Gilden
    • Max Ginsberg
    • Stephen Gjertson
    • Burt Glinn
    • Jim Goldberg
    • Arina Gordienko
    • Adrian Gottlieb
    • David Gray
    • Daniel Graves
    • Daniel E. Greene
    • Philip Jones Griffiths
    • Harry Gruyaert
    • Jean Guamy
    • James Gurney
    • Clark Gussin
    • Mandy Hallenius
    • Philippe Halsman
    • Gordon Hanley
    • David Hardy
    • Price Harrison
    • George Hartley
    • Christine Hartman
    • Erich Hartmann
    • David Alan Harvey
    • Seth Haverkamp
    • Jeff Hein
    • Tim Hetherington
    • Ron Hicks
    • Greg Hildebrandt
    • Thomas Hoepker
    • ​Sohrab Hura
    • David Hurn
    • Maureen Hyde
    • Jason Patrick Jenkins
    • Richard Kalvar
    • Svetlana Kanyo​
    • Thomas Kegler
    • Michael Vince Kim
    • Michael Klein
    • Josef Koudelka
    • Wang Kun
    • Alain Laboile
    • Sarah Lamb
    • Joshua LaRock
    • Bryan Larsen
    • Urban Larsson
    • Herman Leonard
    • Robert Liberace​
    • He Lihuai
    • Edward Little
    • Jeremy Lipking
    • Vivian Maier
    • Sally Mann
    • Constantine Manos
    • Diana Markosian
    • Steve McCurry
    • Sydney McGinley
    • Sherrie McGraw
    • Susan Meiselas
    • Terje Adler Mork
    • Karen Offutt
    • Graydon Parrish
    • Christopher Parrott
    • Leszek Piotrowski
    • Denise Pollack
    • Aleksi Poutanen
    • Christopher Pugliese
    • Julio Reyes
    • Lissa Rivera
    • Cristina García Rodero
    • Sergio Roffo
    • Cesar Santos
    • David Saxe
    • Nelson Shanks
    • Jordan Sokol
    • Viktoria Sorochinski
    • Paweł Starzec
    • Victoria Steel
    • Gwendolyn Stine
    • Dennis Stock
    • Vicki Sullivan
    • Carol Lee Thompson
    • Dan Thompson
    • Larry Towell
    • Hsin-Yao Tseng
    • Boris Vallejo
    • James Van Fossan
    • Jeffrey R. Watts
    • ​Patricia Watwood
    • Alex Webb
    • Morgan Weistling
    • Shane Wolf
    • Anna Wypych
    • ​Robert Zeller
    • Kailin Zhao
    • Doug Zider
  • Books
    • Colour Control
    • Dynamic Symmetry in Composition
    • Dynamic Symmetry - The Greek Vase
    • Perspective Made Easy
    • Pictorial Composition and the Critical Judgment of Pictures
    • The Art of Composition: A Simple Application of Dynamic Symmetry
    • The Art of Composition: A Simple Application of Dynamic Symmetry (1956)
    • The Classic Point of View
    • The Elements of Dynamic Symmetry
    • Treatise in Landscape Painting
  • Articles & Videos
    • 3 Bad Habits All Photographers Should Break (Video)
    • 3 Reasons Why Most Photography Workshops Aren't Worth the Money
    • 5 Approaches to Composition in Photography (And Why They Won't Teach You Anything About Design)
    • 5 Myths About Composition (Video)
    • 14 Line Armature (Video)
    • An Email Addressing the Practical Use of Dynamic Symmetry in Art
    • A New, Old Way to Teach Art
    • Armature of the Rectangle (Video)
    • Art Can't Be Taught?
    • Art Educator Mandy Hallenius: Classical Training in Art Opens Creative Choices
    • Artist Robert Florczak: Classical Ideals Give Culture Depth
    • Breaking Down a Dynamic Symmetry Rectangle (Video)
    • Classical Realism- Part 1, 2, and 3
    • Classical Drawing Atelier - Introduction
    • Classical Painting Atelier - Introduction
    • Compositional Studies
    • Creating a Portfolio: Advice from Magnum
    • Drawing Is Back in Fashion
    • Drawing Is the Heart by Juliette Aristides
    • Dynamic Symmetry and Wildlife
    • Dynamic Symmetry for Photographers
    • Dynamic Symmetry and Henri Cartier-Bresson​
    • Dynamic Symmetry in Fine Art Sculpture
    • Film vs. Digital
    • Gamut in Composition (Video)
    • Geometry of Design - Introduction
    • Greatest Area of Contrast (Video)
    • History Painting and the Problem with Art Education
    • How Skilled Copyists Leave the Louvre with a Masterpiece Every Year
    • How the Arts Develop the Young Brain
    • If Anything's Art, Art's Nothing
    • If Everything Is Art, Then Nothing Is Art
    • Isn't There Something Incomprehensible, Magical, or Mystical About Art?
    • Is Photography Art?
    • Juliette Aristides on Composition: From the Book "Classical Drawing Atelier
    • Juliette Aristides: On Myron Barnstone
    • Juliette Aristides On TRAC With the Atelier Movement
    • Keep Your Composure
    • Kenyon Cox on Modern Art and Composition
    • Lessons in Classical Drawing - Introduction
    • Lessons in Classical Painting - Introduction
    • Magnum Photographers from Different Generations ​Talk About the Fabled Agency’s Past, Present, and Future
    • Mastering Classical Realism​ With Juliette Aristides
    • Myron Barnstone: A Life's Work
    • Myron Barnstone: An art career in perspective
    • Nick Alm: Derived From Empathy
    • One Question with Juliette Aristides
    • Pictorial Composition: An Introduction
    • Practice Doesn't Always Guarantee Success
    • Priceless Advice: A Personal Email From Myron Barnstone
    • The Art of Seeing and Visual Literacy
    • The Art of Selection
    • The Atelier Approach to Art Education
    • The Armature of the Rectangle
    • ​The Consequences of Taking a Stand
    • The Da Vinci Initiative
    • The Difference Between a Fine Art Print and a Work of Art
    • The Failure of Art Education in America
    • The Gap Between Photography and Art
    • The Number One Reason Why a Work of Art Will Fail
    • The Painter's Secret Geometry - Introduction
    • The Pendulum Has Swung With a Vengeance
    • The Place of Photography in Fine Art
    • The Road to Visual Literacy
    • What Are the Benefits of Atelier Trainin​g?
  • Art Highlights
  • Contact
Dot Bunn painting and Dynamic Symmetry


The Art of Selection
​by Dot Bunn
 
Ayn Rand wrote, “Art is a selective recreation of reality.” These are words that I paint by. Nature is an endless source of inspiration, but it always comes with too much information. My challenge is to distill an image from the complexity of nature while eliminating what is not essential. The recreation of reality doesn’t happen by simply copying what you see, and the poetry of light does not reflect off a photograph. You need to make intelligent choices.
 
Thinking it through

Through the deliberate selection of composition, color, calligraphy of hand and final presentation, the work becomes individual. I strive to paint a mirror of my sense of life. If I am confused about what I want to communicate or too clichéd in the imagery, the work will have nothing worth contemplating. Every year our lives become richer with experience and through that filter art is created. When someone views a work of art, there needs to be a connection between their understanding of life and the artist’s expression of life.

Balance and Control

Painting completes me and satisfies a persistent need to create, but the drama of uncertainty in developing a painting does not appeal to me. My nature wants balance and control in my work. Everything about the process of making a painting is a seductive challenge, but it needs to be built on a foundation of rules and guidelines. Although I believe that rules in art are routinely broken with success, there are certain canons of good design and color that form the foundation for great work.

Learning from the Past

My compositions are based on the Golden Mean and the Rectangles of the Masters. Many of the great works of the past conform to these proportions, which were first identified by the ancient Greeks. After studying and copying works of the eighteenth and nineteenth century English portrait painters I found that consistent measurements were used to ensure a pleasing result. These gifted painters did not act simply out of random enthusiasm. It is through acquired skill that we have the ability to bring forward what we visualize in our imagination. Acquiring skill takes time and work. One of the wonderful aspects of being an artist is that the learning never stops.
 
WHEN SOMEONE VIEWS A WORK OF ART THERE NEEDS TO BE A CONNECTION BETWEEN THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE AND THE ARTIST’S EXPRESSION OF LIFE.
 
Interpreting Reality 

It is not the subject itself that is interesting but the way in which the artist chooses to interpret it. With very few exceptions, all of my paintings are of places and things that I have actually experienced. During the process of creating a work of art, the unexpected happens in color and design possibilities. From these suggestions, I choose what will or will not complement my intent. Art is a science of mathematics, aesthetics and psychology all rolled into one. To be successful, both the mind and heart of the artist need to be engaged.

Getting Started
​

I start with what I call a scribble drawing. This is a very loose sketch that helps me find the internal movement and dominant angles in the work. This drawing needs to be refined with additional drawings. If the initial design is not good, no amount of color or bravado brushwork will fix it later. The act of drawing also establishes an intimacy with the subject that will guide me throughout the painting. The better you know your subject, the easier it will be to interpret it in paint. Sometimes I do a simple thumbnail value study to aid in the transfer from line to mass. Then I start painting with a monotone wipeout image to secure the light mass.

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Drawing and Grisaille for Mirror Lake
Picture
Mirror Lake, 24 x 24 inches, Oil on panel
Picture
Glass Palette

Limiting the Palette

Once the composition is established a limited palette of colors is selected. Often there will be three main colors with one hue dominating the work. Some additional hues will be added during the painting to enrich the three main colors. My love of color has resulted in drawers full of hues, but I select a limited number for each painting. I work on a circular glass palette with a neutral gray tone under it. The colors are arranged according to the spectrum of light, which helps me keep my colors clean and makes mixing more consistent.
Teaching students color management with this palette arrangement has proven to be very successful for me. A poetic sense of reality can be achieved by limiting your palette to just a few colors, as has been proven by such artists as Velazquez, Whistler, and Vermeer.

Balancing Skill with Soul 

My method of painting is indirect. Working in layers, I gradually allow the saturation and value range to strengthen. Once into the painting, all line needs to be destroyed. It is light over form that becomes my subject. The balance between technical skill and a poetic approach to the work becomes critical. Too much presence of either can destroy the moment of contemplation for the viewer.


When you attend a great theatrical performance you are captivated by the overall experience. You should not be distracted by a single actor’s efforts to be noticed. A great book is as much about the success of sentence structure as it is about the author’s unique way of communicating the story. There is always the need to balance skill with soul. A great work of art stops you in your tracks and pulls you in. You breathe the same air and somehow feel connected to the artist.

Uniqueness of Vision

In the end, it seems to me that the challenge is to recognize the uniqueness of one’s own vision and then to apply that sense of who you are through intelligent selection in all stages of the work. Too often we accept quirky or different as being somehow better than beauty and poetic presence. Students want to skip the planning stage to get to color only to be disappointed with the results. Paintings that display great technical skill but lack a human quality never really touch the soul. Likewise, paintings lacking harmony or good composition cannot stand on the artist’s enthusiasm alone. I strive to paint reality poetically reinterpreted through acquired skill and the memories left by experience.

“The amateurs and those who dabble in poetry, philosophy, or painting think that these arts are clever games, played with bits and fragments of experience. But to the artist and the poet, the games are life itself. Their palettes and brushes, their majors and minors are part of a harness which their souls have somehow slipped into and by means of which their lives and experiences are mysteriously transmuted into poetry, plays, music, pictures and so on.” – R.H. Ives Gammell

To read the original article, click here. 

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  • Home
  • About
  • Shop
    • Dynamic Symmetry Art Membership
    • Dynamic Symmetry Grids
    • Dynamic Symmetry Grids (Custom)
    • Phone Consultation (30-Minute)
    • Phone Consultation (60-Minute)
    • Photography Membership
    • Photography Portfolio Review
    • Single Image Review
  • The Art of Composition
  • FAQs
  • Design for Photographers
  • Artists
    • Abbas
    • Olga Abramovo
    • Nick Alm
    • Christopher Anderson
    • Keliy Anderson-Staley
    • Michael John Angel
    • George Angelini
    • Denise Antaya
    • Juliette Aristides
    • Eric Armusik
    • Eve Arnold
    • Anna-Brith Arnsten
    • Olivia Arthur
    • Steven Assael
    • Igor V. Babailov
    • Anna Rose Bain
    • Garin Baker
    • Allan R. Banks
    • Micha Bar-Am
    • Bruno Barbey
    • Colleen Barry
    • Alan Merris Bell
    • Julie Bell
    • Jonas Bendiksen
    • Ian Berry
    • Gulay Berryman
    • ​Werner Bischof
    • Kirsten Leah Bitzer
    • Matt Black
    • Sarah Blesener
    • David Michael Bowers
    • Roger Dale Brown
    • Paul S. Brown
    • Mary Ross Buchholz
    • Kristie Bruzenak
    • Nadir Bucan
    • Dot Bunn
    • Scott Burdick
    • René Burri
    • John Buxton
    • Antoine Bruy
    • Svetlana Cameron
    • Dario Campanile
    • Enri Canaj
    • Cornell Capa
    • Robert Capa
    • Louis Carr
    • Henri Cartier-Bresson
    • Chien-Chi Chang
    • Turjoy Chowdhury
    • Jacob Collins
    • Mary Jane Q Cross
    • David Andrew Nishita Cheifetz
    • Antoine d'Agata
    • Carla D'aguanno
    • Marcos Damascena
    • Bruce Davidson
    • Carl De Keyzer
    • Jon deMartin
    • Raymond Depardon
    • Bieke Depoorter
    • Stephanie Deshpande
    • Patrick Devonas
    • Paul P D'Haese
    • Marina Dieul
    • Shaun Downey
    • Carolyn Drake
    • Thomas Dworzak
    • Nikos Economopoulos
    • Virgil Elliott
    • Megan K. Euell
    • Philippe Faraut
    • Faripour Forouhar
    • Martine Franck
    • Stuart Franklin
    • Leonard Freed
    • Thomas Freteur
    • Joke Frima
    • Paul Fusco
    • Tina Garrett
    • Gilberto Geraldo
    • Daniel Gerhartz
    • Bruce Gilden
    • Max Ginsberg
    • Stephen Gjertson
    • Burt Glinn
    • Jim Goldberg
    • Arina Gordienko
    • Adrian Gottlieb
    • David Gray
    • Daniel Graves
    • Daniel E. Greene
    • Philip Jones Griffiths
    • Harry Gruyaert
    • Jean Guamy
    • James Gurney
    • Clark Gussin
    • Mandy Hallenius
    • Philippe Halsman
    • Gordon Hanley
    • David Hardy
    • Price Harrison
    • George Hartley
    • Christine Hartman
    • Erich Hartmann
    • David Alan Harvey
    • Seth Haverkamp
    • Jeff Hein
    • Tim Hetherington
    • Ron Hicks
    • Greg Hildebrandt
    • Thomas Hoepker
    • ​Sohrab Hura
    • David Hurn
    • Maureen Hyde
    • Jason Patrick Jenkins
    • Richard Kalvar
    • Svetlana Kanyo​
    • Thomas Kegler
    • Michael Vince Kim
    • Michael Klein
    • Josef Koudelka
    • Wang Kun
    • Alain Laboile
    • Sarah Lamb
    • Joshua LaRock
    • Bryan Larsen
    • Urban Larsson
    • Herman Leonard
    • Robert Liberace​
    • He Lihuai
    • Edward Little
    • Jeremy Lipking
    • Vivian Maier
    • Sally Mann
    • Constantine Manos
    • Diana Markosian
    • Steve McCurry
    • Sydney McGinley
    • Sherrie McGraw
    • Susan Meiselas
    • Terje Adler Mork
    • Karen Offutt
    • Graydon Parrish
    • Christopher Parrott
    • Leszek Piotrowski
    • Denise Pollack
    • Aleksi Poutanen
    • Christopher Pugliese
    • Julio Reyes
    • Lissa Rivera
    • Cristina García Rodero
    • Sergio Roffo
    • Cesar Santos
    • David Saxe
    • Nelson Shanks
    • Jordan Sokol
    • Viktoria Sorochinski
    • Paweł Starzec
    • Victoria Steel
    • Gwendolyn Stine
    • Dennis Stock
    • Vicki Sullivan
    • Carol Lee Thompson
    • Dan Thompson
    • Larry Towell
    • Hsin-Yao Tseng
    • Boris Vallejo
    • James Van Fossan
    • Jeffrey R. Watts
    • ​Patricia Watwood
    • Alex Webb
    • Morgan Weistling
    • Shane Wolf
    • Anna Wypych
    • ​Robert Zeller
    • Kailin Zhao
    • Doug Zider
  • Books
    • Colour Control
    • Dynamic Symmetry in Composition
    • Dynamic Symmetry - The Greek Vase
    • Perspective Made Easy
    • Pictorial Composition and the Critical Judgment of Pictures
    • The Art of Composition: A Simple Application of Dynamic Symmetry
    • The Art of Composition: A Simple Application of Dynamic Symmetry (1956)
    • The Classic Point of View
    • The Elements of Dynamic Symmetry
    • Treatise in Landscape Painting
  • Articles & Videos
    • 3 Bad Habits All Photographers Should Break (Video)
    • 3 Reasons Why Most Photography Workshops Aren't Worth the Money
    • 5 Approaches to Composition in Photography (And Why They Won't Teach You Anything About Design)
    • 5 Myths About Composition (Video)
    • 14 Line Armature (Video)
    • An Email Addressing the Practical Use of Dynamic Symmetry in Art
    • A New, Old Way to Teach Art
    • Armature of the Rectangle (Video)
    • Art Can't Be Taught?
    • Art Educator Mandy Hallenius: Classical Training in Art Opens Creative Choices
    • Artist Robert Florczak: Classical Ideals Give Culture Depth
    • Breaking Down a Dynamic Symmetry Rectangle (Video)
    • Classical Realism- Part 1, 2, and 3
    • Classical Drawing Atelier - Introduction
    • Classical Painting Atelier - Introduction
    • Compositional Studies
    • Creating a Portfolio: Advice from Magnum
    • Drawing Is Back in Fashion
    • Drawing Is the Heart by Juliette Aristides
    • Dynamic Symmetry and Wildlife
    • Dynamic Symmetry for Photographers
    • Dynamic Symmetry and Henri Cartier-Bresson​
    • Dynamic Symmetry in Fine Art Sculpture
    • Film vs. Digital
    • Gamut in Composition (Video)
    • Geometry of Design - Introduction
    • Greatest Area of Contrast (Video)
    • History Painting and the Problem with Art Education
    • How Skilled Copyists Leave the Louvre with a Masterpiece Every Year
    • How the Arts Develop the Young Brain
    • If Anything's Art, Art's Nothing
    • If Everything Is Art, Then Nothing Is Art
    • Isn't There Something Incomprehensible, Magical, or Mystical About Art?
    • Is Photography Art?
    • Juliette Aristides on Composition: From the Book "Classical Drawing Atelier
    • Juliette Aristides: On Myron Barnstone
    • Juliette Aristides On TRAC With the Atelier Movement
    • Keep Your Composure
    • Kenyon Cox on Modern Art and Composition
    • Lessons in Classical Drawing - Introduction
    • Lessons in Classical Painting - Introduction
    • Magnum Photographers from Different Generations ​Talk About the Fabled Agency’s Past, Present, and Future
    • Mastering Classical Realism​ With Juliette Aristides
    • Myron Barnstone: A Life's Work
    • Myron Barnstone: An art career in perspective
    • Nick Alm: Derived From Empathy
    • One Question with Juliette Aristides
    • Pictorial Composition: An Introduction
    • Practice Doesn't Always Guarantee Success
    • Priceless Advice: A Personal Email From Myron Barnstone
    • The Art of Seeing and Visual Literacy
    • The Art of Selection
    • The Atelier Approach to Art Education
    • The Armature of the Rectangle
    • ​The Consequences of Taking a Stand
    • The Da Vinci Initiative
    • The Difference Between a Fine Art Print and a Work of Art
    • The Failure of Art Education in America
    • The Gap Between Photography and Art
    • The Number One Reason Why a Work of Art Will Fail
    • The Painter's Secret Geometry - Introduction
    • The Pendulum Has Swung With a Vengeance
    • The Place of Photography in Fine Art
    • The Road to Visual Literacy
    • What Are the Benefits of Atelier Trainin​g?
  • Art Highlights
  • Contact
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