Part 3 Project 3 Composition Exercise 2 Foreground, middle ground and background

Fig. 1. Johnston, Craig. Ganvie Trip, 2015.

For this exercise I returned once again to the photographs my husband took on our trip to Ganvie, the Venice of Africa (see Fig.1). I chose a photograph that had a definite foreground, middle ground and background. As the original photograph is panoramic, I played around a bit in Photoshop to see if I could tweak the composition a bit to tighten it up and to emphasize the spatial depth.

Cropped version of photograph.

What looked right to me was to have the woman, with her back turned to the viewer, at the second third vertical and the prow of the second boat just about around the first third. I moved some of the men over a bit so that they fitted into the shot and helped to highlight the background. Because of the two boats on the extreme left, the picture actually has four levels to it.

Sketchbook study of water reflections.

Every since studying Claude Monet's Water Lily series as a teenager, water reflections have fascinated me. The reflections in this shot area crucial part of the interest of this painting, so, in anticipation of drawing the reflections I made a page of studies in my sketchbook. Initially I thought that the top right-hand technique would work well as it is rather dynamic. However, once the picture was underway, the technique which was better suited to the project was the bottom left-hand side one. This worked with a rubbing of charcoal smeared on the paper, and then the white highlighted ripples were picked out from the grey with an eraser. I then worked a combination of watercolor crayons, graphite pencil and watercolor pencils in layers into the darker areas of the reflections. In order to keep the yellow reflection from the petrol drum pure, I erased the graphite and drew these in with watercolor crayons. I really enjoyed working with the reflections and could envision a massive canvas created purely from the details of the reflections, in an Op art and minimalist style. An idea for a future project!

Fig. 2. Cezanne,Paul. Les Terrassiers, circa 1883.

The first thing I worked on after completing my initial sketch, was the background reedy bank with the three figures. I studied a work by Cezanne, Les Terrassiers, to get a feel for how to minimize details in figure as the distance between the foreground and the background increases ( see Fig.1). As photographs tend to be able to capture a lot of information, I wanted to minimize some details in the middle and background to increase the sense of spatial depth. The mend were reduced to basically silhouettes with a slight indication of color in some of their clothing items. I used directional strokes of graphite and beige watercolor pencils to indicate the banks.

As I had completed a similar sky in my previous drawing, and I enjoy working from the top down when using mixed media that smudges, I started to work this area next. It proved a little more challenging than I had imagined. I thought that seeing I had already used the same technique in the previous shot that this would be a walk in the park, but it wasn't. I struggled to work the sky by artificial light as the acrylic washes of my initial wash were shiny. However, I then washed over a layer of PVA and then worked on with a different brand of acrylic which was less reflective. I ended up in doing numerous layers until I decided to just push on. What I found hard was the stark contrast between the darker areas of cloud and the white zones. When the two are next to each other it is easy for it to have rather a hard appearance. My husband likened it to waves on a sea, rather than it being fluffy and with slightly blended edges. Once I had everything else completed, I once again worked on the sky until I was satisfied with it.

Middle ground study.

Unfortunately, the drawing from the following

page has damaged this page.

I then worked at how to interpret the middle ground. I completed a study in my sketchbook for this purpose. I chose to make the man in the front of the speed boat a black guy to ensure that the picture was not about racial typecasting. I made these men featureless with just a suggestion of tonal values to indicate light source. As the prow of the boat is directed towards the viewer, this is the area that got most of the attention. I used a mixture of watercolor pencils and graphite on this area. Initially the waves under the boat were lighter, but on completion of the painting it seemed to need some more detail to hold the boat in position.

Foreground sketchbook study.

I practiced sections of the foreground boat in my sketchbook, especially working on the two women. I find simplifying features a real challenge. This is particularly difficult when they are in such dark shadow. What I found interesting was that the slightest change of the position of a shadow or stroke totally changed the look of the women. So, in my final drawing the woman who is paddling looks like a different woman from my preliminary sketch.

I used crayon resist and watercolors in the blue skirt of the first woman, and watercolor crayons and watercolors on the second woman.

I tried to not be completely illustrative in the foreground, although this tends to be my favored tendency. For this reason, I tried to stylize sections and not be fastidious in getting it to look super realistic. Initially the first woman on the left was a whole lot lighter. I decided to leave her like that until the whole picture was finished to ensure that I got a balance of what was really required in the drawing.

I loved working on the reflections, although they were still challenging. I wanted to show the highly decorative natured of the reflections on the rippled surface. I wanted this to be the area that helps to frame and hold your attention in the foreground.

I decided that I wanted to take some tips from the artists that I have studied and to not include too much detail in the water on the left-hand side and middle ground. I wanted the viewer to have to interpret this zone for themselves and to provide a counter-balance to the weight of the details in the foreground. I think that this works.

Initial drawing.

After taking all of the necessary photographs, I decided to rework the woman whose back view becomes the focal point of the picture. I actually really like the fact that this woman is the focal point and yet she is faceless. I decided that she needed more detail in her headdress and her clothing needed stronger highlights and shadow to help to strengthen her position as the focal point.

My husband observed that there is a tension between the triangle created by the women in the foreground and the two men in the boat. In retrospect, I think the prow of the boat helps to frame this middle ground zone, but I think that it is too dark for the painting. It detracts attention from the foreground, creating an unnecessary tension between the two. In order to increase pictorial depth I needed to have used more muted tones in the hull ensuring that the first boat with the woman remains the detailed and more dominant section.

Final drawing.

How did you simplify and select?

In both artworks, I tried to minimize the use of pattern in some areas of the drawing, whereas I intentionally drew attention to it in the areas I wanted to draw people's attention. In my last drawing, by making the women's clothing less detailed and patterned than in the original photograph. I strove to merely allude to patterns, as this is an intrinsic part of the nature of the fabric used in this region of the world. However, as the crisscross pattern of the fish traps is part of the only decorative and detailed feature of the fisherman's shack scene, I strove to emphasize the patterns here. This does have the effect of shrinking deep space as it is the middle ground that is getting the attention.

How did you create a sense of distance and form?

On further reflection of the past two exercises, I think that the first picture of the fisherman's shack on the river is more limited in its sense of spatial depth than this last one. By emphasizing the pattern of the fish traps, it serves to provide a middle zone which catches your attention. The foreground is merely suggest by the loose pencil marks washed over with a wash of white acrylic. The sky is one of the main features of this artwork.

In this past artwork, the attention is no longer on the solely on the sky and water, but includes the detail created by having figures in each zone. I feel that the figures in the middle ground are portrayed in a manner which suggests depth of space, but I needed to make the boat less prominent and more muted. When I place a piece of tracing paper over the boat, it suddenly has the effect of minimizing its details, pushing it further into the middle ground. I could have made the men in the background as pale as the figures in the small boats to the right of the drawing. This would have further pushed them into deep space. I feel that I have gained a greater appreciation for the tricks of aerial perspective, but I still have a way to go in being able to fully achieve it. I tend to be drawn by the details that a photograph can achieve and need to ensure that I continuously interpret this image source as merely a tool, allowing for greater personal interpretation and experimentation.

In both artworks, form was suggested by increasing the contrast between highlighted areas and shadows. This was particular evident on the back of the first woman in the foreground of the above drawing.

Depth was also created through the use of diminishing scale and horizontal placement in relation to the picture plane.

Were you able to use light and shade successfully?

I think I was able to use light and shade successfully in the clouds, boats and water reflection. Light and shade were particularly important in creating the dark foreboding, grey sky, with its bright areas of the sun's penetration into the clouds lower on the horizon. Light and shade was an intrinsic part of the foreground in the reflections on the water. Without the strong contrast between the rippled reflections, there would not be the sense of rhythm and emphasis that forms part of this region. 

What additional preliminary work would have been helpful towards a larger study?

I definitely feel that I need to practice striving for greater simplification in the middle ground, allowing colours to become desaturated, and details less pronounced. I also would benefit from studying how to allow figures in the background to become even more simplified, with just mere suggestions of forms and colours. I would also suggest continuing to study the complex patterns and tones found in reflections, and complexity of layers within cloud formations.

List of Illustrations

Figure 1. Johnston, Craig. Trip to Ganvie [photograph] 2015.

Figure 2. Cezanne, Paul. Les Terrassier. Circa 1883 [oil] 14.6 x 25 cm. Mellon Collection.