Hard and Soft Lines

 This entry was originally posted on Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Cherry Blossoms, 7x10" 

When painting from a photograph it can be hard to remember to soften some of your lines.

A photograph tends to flatten everything into hard surfaces and loses its dimensionality.

 

Our vision is such that when we focus on an object, we see the item that is in focus much clearer, harder, and crisper. 

Those items in our peripheral vision are in softer focus or appear fuzzy unless we focus on them. 

This is very different from a photograph.

Keep this in mind when you paint. 

By putting harder, crisper lines around your focal point, you will be drawing attention to it.

Which is what you want.

Painting softer or fuzzy lines as they move away from your focal point creates dimension and it becomes a support for your focal point instead of competing with the one you have.