Because of the importance of edges in painting, and as the subject is woven thorough many other topics, Cynthia suggested a separate thread. I thought I would take a stab at starting out a general discussion, so please embellish.
Edges occur wherever shapes meet, whether between hair and background, ear and cheek, collar and throat. The painter's ability to manage edges effectively is, in my view, often a key element that differentiates the amateur from the accomplished painter.
Edges in a painting serve two important functions. First, they punctuate the path a viewer's eye takes as it scans your canvas. Sharp edges, along with elements like strong contrast, and saturated or discordant color, attract the viewer's eye like magnets.
Second, edges support your center of interest, the concept underlying the reason you picked up the brush to begin with. Used with purpose, edges of varying sharpness will force your viewer to see what you want him to see. Keeping your very sharpest edges near your focal point will reinforce it.
Edges can be either hard or soft, or lost, or found.
Hard edges are usually easy to find in places where light and shadow meet crisply, as in a strong cast shadow; where light and dark shapes meet, such as a white cuff against a dark sleeve; or where textures are smooth or metallic, to name a few.
Soft edges can be readily found where an object has a form (as opposed to a cast) shadow; where textures are fuzzy or uneven, like the silhouette or edges of hair, or folds in a fabric like mohair, as compared to pressed linen.
Edges become lost when adjacent shapes are similar in value, especially so when they are similar in both value and hue. They are found again when the value or color of one of the shapes changes.
When you paint from life it is far easier to see edges than when you paint from photos. From life, look at your center of interest, and close your eyes. You will be left with an impression of where the edges are most pronounced. Make judgements about the relative sharpness of other edges, as you are looking at your center of interest.
Find the edge which will be the sharpest in your painting, as well as the edge that is the softest, without becoming completely lost. Then you can compare every other edge you paint to the these two "bookends".
You cannot rely on photographs to help you with edges, because everything in focus will have an equally sharp edge. Paintings without edge differentiation very quickly bore viewers.
NOTE: Of all the discussions I have ever read on edges, none, in my opinion, is more thoughtful nor complete than Richard Schmid's text in "Alla Prima" (pages 91-110). I would also add that it is difficult to find better examples of masterful edge use than shown in his work. You can see his on line gallery at
www.richardschmid.com.
As I find other examples, I will edit this post or add a new one.
Chris
Linear Mode
