Learning how to balance a painting’s composition can be difficult. If you add in too many marks, the piece can become crowded, making it difficult for the viewer to know where to focus.
Fortunately, there’s a simple solution for this. Watch the video and let me know what you think. How do you solve your problem pieces?
In gratitude, Nicholas
PS. I’ve put together a free assessment, designed to help you identify and then solve your biggest art making challenge.
To take it, just go to artlifenew.com
If you find it useful, please feel free to pass it along to your friends!
97 Comments
Hi! I’m
Nicholas Wilton
the founder of Art2Life.
With over 20 years experience as a working artist and educator, I’ve developed a systematic approach that brings authenticity, spontaneity and joy back into the creative process.
Join me and artists from all over the world in our Free Art2Life Artists Facebook Group or learn more here about Art2Life.
I’m posting a painting that I started years ago and never finished. I just never knew where to go with it. It has images/patterns in it that I took from a trip to India. Now when I work on a painting, I usually start with an idea, completely cover it, start again, taking out and putting in. A lot of this back and forth is what I got from your course, Nick. But what I think I still don’t really look at is value. Anyway, here’s my offering from years ago. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d96fc017ca5d7e7ab73e2c7a02a63bf9b2a77bae4bce35f9e6ef50ea178f4bc9.jpg
Here’s a Dog’s Dinner, before & after, or maybe they are both befores! I now always start with creating a dinner image, before I clean it up & serve it to the public! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/95b72bb587ba03c21ae6911a8b9628c5c17efee485a1b4a155c6a1426847d098.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a6e57f36cbaf8041f49a69c0a3eac3f441e81fe728cd2391048f509698fc025d.jpg
Love it how you describe it!
so there is hope for the dog dinners? . thank you! 🙂
Awesome! I like that you show before and after!
Thanks ! Yes it needs a kick
definitely a dogs dinner;)
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2d22a5c4f6cca87287dc11281bebe0011dc11b66ad3d41da7cf3391e9c41d679.jpg
Wow yes very busy! But great colours to move forward with 🙂
I love this “busy”– especially the one on the right. There are lots of us out there that would much rather hang a painting like this than a more subdued one!
Mary, I belive making the art more clear about its focal point doesn’t necessarily mean taking the colour away. But to define (in any colour of your choice) the areas that you love and create calm or space in the rest. 🙂
Dinner and desert
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0051b604aeb3dc44aa9b94a1dcac0a315de0586334c6f3ca5feeb2ee2c87806c.jpg
the “dog dinner” busy painting just nails it! luv. i will use the analogy forever!
posted above: my latest canine dish. thx u nicholas!!!!
These shapes even looks like dog bones 😂
Great one!
😂 I love this Nick!!! I cannot remember which painting I was working on when I said that 🙂 probably that awful pomegranate 😜
OMG, this is awesome, ha ha! So many dog’s dinners to choose from! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/305b8d14d6d28a3ed45f927a9a89b74b03878017a22baf96c0f870df44e002c1.jpg
Yes… so awesome how people are sharing these…great!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8a998fd1d8dc697cdfdfd895ea57614077dd6fa245dcb7a687acef1ece5cb05b.jpg Love the “party noise” analogy! This is my “dog’s brekkie” painting, it’s probably upside down but at this point it doesn’t really matter as it’s … so blah! I think it’s a question of contrasts … everything is too “the same”. It’s been “put away” for years! I think I can find my way back to it. Thanks for the tips, Nick.
I love this analogy! I’m the master of the dog’s dinner, in fact I often make a dog’s banquet:)!
Thanks for encouraging me to work through the values and textures making differences, Nicholas. Much better than my usual solution of wanting to cover everything with gesso and start over.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9989e0af0795fa4ebed501f4f12ce07ca0270a9acb6c7346388ef86a52099c04.jpg
Great…
I hope you will show us the painting on your left as it progresses. There are some interesting drippings going on.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/07c89c05e07abe57fa4a519cde90a1a3b32659bf06c084c8f3a2c93d0522805e.jpg The saying around here is “dog’s breakfast”. I don’t know how this temporal change occurred………
Hilarious…dog’s breakfast
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/23d134bb94d43639e518fed602a640a6ec4a98af3417f8365354d65d869d5800.jpg
This dog’s dinner has been sitting, (and changing) for a few months, not sure what to do next. I went to a poetry reading/art sale yesterday. Getting out of my box was a great thing! One of the presenters is researching the metaphorical ‘swan’ in history and in current cultures around the world… I am inspired to add my rendition of a swan on top of this! So now… is it in positive? Negative? Large? small? Detailed? Sketchy? Going for it….
This is looking pretty good…
That was my thought. I really like it and would hesitate to do anything else to it.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/947a91f8e5298f16b1d6a0a506bc2547431b4c8f682eff892ebd4680acf84145.jpg
It’s uncanny how Nicks posts come at such a timely manner!
I was only just looking at this “Dogs Dinner” yesterday and wondering if there was a way to work with it.
So much going on here but I like a few things. Maybe there is something here? Maybe not!! In any way it’s fun to look for ideas in all this chaos. Relating to Value might help! Thank you so much Nicholas.
There are a lot of individual places of movement, but they aren’t connected -maybe that is something you could use?
Hey Sharon
Good to connect here!
Thanks for your comment regarding movement. I hadn’t thought of movement so much but mostly about the relationships of colour, value and depth.
Loud and soft.
cool stuff in here — just lots to choose from
Yes too many choices makes the task of simplifying somewhat daunting.
Most of my work begins like a ‘dogs dinner’….then I paint out sections to refine it….like this one …”Terrain” https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/30094eaea878ae6caecf5e02e3e5cef1f50f41813727e55c9e7b3f3d2c80ef02.jpg
That is how I work too…
A “dog’s dinner” I gave up on, had to hide it in the back of a closet so I don’t have to look at it. I had a teacher once drill in the idea that you should always keep all your work, even the things you absolutely hate, because looking back in 5, 10, 15 years your perspectve will have changed and it might spark an idea you wouldn’t have got otherwise. When I have gone against this advice, and painted over or destroyed something, I’ve usually regretted it some years down the road. uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fe931c77e18d80a00e6998d6d8c2ed50f31a2f2d25d73bd451b98f22f4fcb97e.jpg
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7f67f62406123111f80c1b085f33cab43d2af874ad8bec502d140e1ceaab31f5.jpg
Dog’s dinner!
I like this!
I think it looks better in the photo than in person, but thanks!
Ok I sort of see that too..
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fd96701e5a65451578dd22e94e2b816e8c372ddf9a2506f7c9edd108061ce22e.jpg
so many to choose from….this dog’s dinner is a mess…I have a few that resemble cat Pate.
I like the black and white element as a counterpoint to all the color.
I like this!
You could cut it up into several paintings…
This is my dog’s dinner😜https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1a2bcbf3a124fcf0066b5fd9e7158ee1ab7f502e0348924f133a7b548f5a3b57.jpg
I like this!!
I like it too..
Gorgeous colour and fascinating explosions of fanciful things in grisaille whose shapes work amazingly well with the orange.
It is so disconcerting to put up a ‘dogs dinner’ and then have people say they like it.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f0da2246994a0e5046a774763d27d553242c1661aee2d7625a9a8c6fb582eb26.jpg This is what the ‘dogs dinner’ looks like now😆
My dog’s dinner. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a11049e62504691d53017ee0c44076f9559b67bf7b6ed911ee59d31ffba364e7.jpg
Ruff!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b2f721b8f6d3e7ea71ca3252bd2c49cb554f613824f0c64d0a07b9ec46fd3c50.jpg
more like my cat’s hairball!
Ha! it is all an 11…
My dog’s dinner. Encaustic piece. The more layers I put the more it turned into a train wreck. Love seeing everyone else’s dog’s dinner. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d8c6e7aadcbb2dac6a0e56f43fd97d80211ad5447457ca50474fa4a7a0648c67.jpg
Super thick– maybe its time to scrape some off?
It suggests a street corner with peeps walking in front. I like it because of the colour and the fog.
My Dogs Dinner is 5’ x 5’ stapled to my wall and taunts me every time I go by the room! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e7b077a2b7424f1d77ccac607a1b8236ae01634b6af371a29151ac5b521fdc12.jpg
There is a LOT going on in there…lol
Love the feather pattern. It would be. Great fabric design.
My dogs dinner https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/62e180fac1e683d300627db81ddbc0c008b1bbd28df791ec64d6cc8db6ddf511.jpg
Yep–I have made these too…I like the right side however…
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6139266a114bb5998ebbe218ca180257f18290f72980795cc9938b80aa484885.jpg
This looked so much better in black and white but Ziehl wanted to upset that modernist apple cart. So far it looks stinky.
Yeah its crying out for help…parts are excellent…
Or as we Kiwi’s would say, ‘like something the dog threw-up’.
Yeah still some nice color in there…
Thanks.:) I would love to see these artist’s like myself (with the dog ‘s dinner art , ) post a photo after they make it into actual good art.,..if they can.:)
Hi Jill< do you have a dog dinner art? 🙂
Not!! I see a harsh landscape with people trudging across the terrain, maybe the hint of buildings, a village in the distance. If you rotate the image 90 degrees to the left the human figures become more pronounced, taller, moving from right towards upper left! You could work at releasing these hidden figures a little more!
wow you’re amazing Marietta. thanks for seeing all that.,, now I’m really inspired to bring the people out of hiding. M>
Your comment of “dog vomit” made me worry that you might paint over it! I have done that and have always regretted doing so! I once did that in a workshop because the teacher let on that she didn’t like what I was doing! I took a photo before I painted over it and a few weeks later when I looked at the photo wished I hadn’t! Be careful not to “over do it” when finding those hidden figures. Just a little highlight here and there to define a head and/or shoulders. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/426f2b14ea489c2bba520d2881e2730b2116e59c73b504eb6033f77d992019d3.jpg
OOPs! It was someone else who said “something the dog threw up”! LOL sorry about the confusion!!
You are so sweet! thank you so much for the inspirational advise. This has been so interesting. I think people posted art that they thought was bad art , but i have really enjoyed everyones art. ..each piece is so unique. That work you posted is wonderful. It feels like I’m there, strolling in that city with all those people.
Thanks! That is a watercolor done on “Aqua Board” It is really a different surface. You can scrub it all the way back to white! But takes some getting used to. I once went to an art show entitled “Bad Art” and the art was so bad that is was good. I loved it!
I have not heard of Aqua board ,…that’s awesome, so bad it’s good! i get that!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b5b9cd47a1ccd110fd5c23472cf92e4b16bb3f8e8d4a1f674558108666e2ce05.jpg
Thanks Nicholas, here is one of my ‘dog’s dinners’ or maybe ‘something the dolphins threw up’! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cad4317d9f8e78f7acaa861ea1c5bf0ceec8fef817b60eaf915278198c01fe7b.jpg
Ha… I don’t think this is dogs dinner….
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9f648a49fa16764982e122530a6ad11585d31d8293e247824008e0816272f013.jpg
haha yes, I’m aussie and we say that too. That and dogs breakfast! And its true, i always seem to over do it and then pull it back. Thank you Nicholas 🙂
A little late maybe, but this Dog’s dinner was a great name. Here is one of mine. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b0f63192d36053509501100d161163e713299c25a830ee1108580d9c817fefb9.jpg
My D.D. – far too much. I am in the process of painting out most of the https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/825c748b446f48ab8ac359e075c0db86e41adf7cf779030a5715ed22cf3cb988.jpg top half…
This is going to be amazing when finished – interesting parts!
Thank you so much Patricia! I have finished the changes and will post it up. Thanks again!
Here is the finished painting Patri https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c23689045e475e4a667e0fe15da45328a7a3d4d44d51fb4a2c7ebbb64536b06e.jpg cia.
Well,actually I made the ochre section towards the bottom just a little bit darker.
Dog’s Dinner, Garage Sale, Busy, Busy, Busy!! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c32ce9d72dfc8079afcf8314d3f3a54134cc8c195d3787616959b5a065a2fe0c.jpg
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/709585f83d46b7e67aa6257589042f524ca121fad5121658a8c052c7ae23572a.jpg I love this – so helpful. Thanks everyone for sharing. It IS funny to look at these and not take them so seriously. I had heard of this phase referred to as the awkward teenage phase and man what a struggle getting through it! I understand better now how to get THROUGH this part. Once again, thanks so much Nicholas.
I like this! Reminds me a little of Kandinsky with a hint of Franz Marc.
Oh wow thanks Marietta, that really is a compliment to me as I studied Kandinsky in high school and love his work.
“Frank Never Knew How to Light a Fire”, 30″ x 30″ (…or how put his dog on a diet) https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bf55e9a7a99981f942b051b8969c727212101dbe6b257bc4f89b152dcab5a673.jpg
“Focus vs Fog” Mixed media collage on wood panel 12×12″ SOLD https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7532217e66efcd752f6bbd40127fe1fa18541d83e4bf6823b0c5ff3a6c323f86.jpg
Hi Nicholas, you really hit the jackpot with this one. I love seeing everyone’s work–we are all dealing with this issue in one way or another. Here’s mine. Especially struggling with same values: very saturated. Thanks, Lisa https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ff5fb8574d710e45e0da89d06a9c4c19c7b80d73b4ae51d6214761565c1d15d3.jpg
Good heavens this is incredibly spot-on for me at this point. I’ve been wrestling with my dog’s dinners for weeks. Too much of everything. Not enough space, focus, or breathIng room in them. Thanks so much for this Nicholas! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2dd761bab7f1795de787147470da52bc658f8c89dfaf35907eb048930895240d.jpg
I like how you framed this – looking down at your feet! Been there! I see great energy and movement shining through!
So many of my paintings are in the “dog’s dinner” phase. Here is one. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/43b35504716e2f1efe8a385c1e7dd97f27e3933b50d7669712e42cdd2a848cfc.jpg
Great Post – it really hits home. I have a stack of paintings in which I am stuck, where to go next? Indecision makes me back off and then I make less art. This is one of my D’sDs. I love the idea of an assessment – I’m going to make it my New Year’s Challenge! Take the assessment in January and then again in June. Thank you for sharing/teaching! Patty M.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/984a6f54e16b959371bfb2f544b1605070db7db4c713a06dc7f9fd238d3e74df.jpg
Nice!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1ca97ff0d54b3b064a4579a4dd082649a49b809574b882ca691294b16a65d2c5.jpg