nature and the way how I approach the problem of painting: I call it the principle of the organizational shape. Tis new approach changed what I look for in subject matter, how I go about composing a painting and what I think about when fnishing a piece. An organizational shape is a type of massed shape. Massing is the act of combining small shapes to make a larger shape. Te shapes which are massed are typically of similar value. Tese combined smaller shapes are either overlapping, touching or in close proximity to one another. (While massing is usually done by value, it To begin Coastal Land (15x19), I limited myself to thinking in terms of values only. I set up the design by rst blocking in the dark value, thereby establishing the organizational shape. Te Shape of Tings Thinking about the organizing shape in a composition can bolster a design and lead to a whole new level of excitement. SKILL BUILDERS BY DOUG DAWSON 14 www.pasteljournal.com can also be constructed around hue, intensity, color temperature, etc.) An organizational shape is a massed shape that dominates a painting. Tis dominant shape is a result of its value, size and location in the painting. Its the primary shape around which all other shapes in the painting are organized. Its because of its importance in the composition that I call it the organiza- tional shape. Although it doesnt work in every painting, the concept can be applied to all subjectswhether fgure, landscape or still life. You can fnd examples of an organizational shape in the best work of many artists from the past and present. I frst discovered this compositional idea through my practice of thumb- nail sketches. I had always begun a painting with small black-and-white sketches to act as a sort of blueprint for the piece. I typically limited my values in a thumbnail to four: dark, dark-middle, light-middle and light. I often experimented with diferent sequences, sometimes starting with the darkest values; sometimes with one of the middle values; and sometimes I would isolate the light value by blocking everything else in with one value. What I discovered was that for some paintings, blocking in the dark values frst told me all I needed to know. Te area in which those dark values massed into a large dark shape established the composition, In this thumbnail for Coastal Landone of the rst in which I learned to see the organizational shapesthe dark tree trunks overlap groups of trees in the distance. OUT ON THE EDGE Another discovery Ive made by thinking about the organizational shape is that massed shapes that are made up of different types of objects are usually more interesting than massed shapes made up of a single object. For example, a massed shape made up of a house and a tree is more interesting than one made of trees alone. It has to do with edges. When the massed shape is a combination of different types of objectseach with unique contoursthe edges take on an in- triguing, unpredictable quality that engage the viewer. In the pastel study, London Town, for example, the massed shape has edges that are character- istic of a bus, shadows on the street, people on the sidewalk and architecture.
In the thumbnail you can see how the variety of edges enriches the organizational shape. London Town Study (8x9) Pastel Journal February 2012 15 and I didnt even need to fll in the sketch with the other three values. Sorting the Shapes The simplest type of organizational shape is one that is made up of smaller massed dark shapes. Te painting Coastal Land (on page 14) is an example in which the organizational shape is the dark value. From my experimentation Ive found that for some painting problems, start- ing with the dark middle valueand adding the darkest values laterworks well. Tis seems to be particularly true with subjects in which the darks are too scattered and isolated to make a good massed shape. In this type of organiza- tional shape, its the dark middle value that acts as the glue holding everything together. I think of it as a massed dark middle shape thats enhanced with interesting dark shapes. Te painting Near Forest Lake (above) is an example of an organizational shape made up of both dark and dark middle values. Abstract Tinking A massed shape, and therefore an organizational shape, is an abstraction. Tis is because its a composite of many smaller, often unrelated shapes. Years ago, I read an Andrew Wyeth quote in which he said that he saw himself as an abstract artist. I wondered about this at the time, because I was just a child, and I thought I knew what abstract art was, and Andrew Wyeth was not it. Years later, as an artist myself, I realized that the same thing could be said of all the best representational painters; its just that the real world is the well from which they draw inspiring abstraction. When were learning to paint, our frst thoughts are about how to paint rocks, trees, etc., but as we move beyond the how-to, we begin to delight in the abstraction of nature. Tink of it like a song. With just lyrics and no melody, it isnt as interesting. Likewise, a representational painting without abstraction doesnt hold our attention. Te organizational shape is one of the ways in which delightful abstraction can be woven into the fabric of a painting. I love to think a viewer of my work might go away with a memory of my painting remaining in his or her mind much like a lingering melody. Test out these ideas. Experiment as I have. And search out the work of your favorite painters. See whether you agree that much of their best work features well designed organizational shapes. DOUG DAWSON (www.dougdawson artist.com) was named a Hall of Fame artist by the Pastel Societ y of America in 2008. He has taught art in a variet y of set- tings, including The Art Students League of Denver, where he currently of fers classes. He also travels regularly to teach workshops across the country. In this thumbnail for Near Forest Lake, the beautiful massed shape of the distant forest caught my eye rst. Often the under- side of forest shapes is at and predictable, but here, the shape was exciting. It was nat- ural to carry the organizational shape down into the rocks surrounding the stream. I might have approached the composition for Near Forest Lake (25x27) using the light shape of the stream as the organizational shape, but the dark and dark middle shapes won out. TO VIEW MORE EXAMPLES OF DOUG DAWSON S PASTEL PAINTINGS AND CORRESPONDING THUMBNAILS, VISI T WWW. ARTISTSNETWORK.COM/ MEDIUM/ PASTEL/ DAWSON-ON-SHAPES. 16 www.pasteljournal.com SKILL BUILDERS