Let the Sunshine In: Edges in Planning a Painting

A painting is planned starting with its shapes or masses. In addition to the tonal pattern, edges will be important in pointing the viewer toward the main focal area and then guiding the viewer around the rest of the painting. There are three types of edges. Hard edges are what most(?) of us first paint, especially as we attempt to paint a likeness. Hard edges attract the eye.

The camera often records more hard edges than what we actually see. Look outside at  an object ( a bird feeder in the backyard). The bird feeder is hard-edged (it is in our central vision). While you continue to look at this feeder, however, the trees around it, the swing set behind it, the house in the far yard are all more soft-edged (in your peripheral vision). A photograph on "auto" presets will often show the entire backyard well defined, hard-edged.

In a painting, that is not photorealistic, there should be hard edges, soft edges and lost edges. Soft edges suggest shapes and lost edges connect the shapes together.  

This is where the painting study was left last night. Imagined full-size, there will be a lot of "empty" blue space. So, thinking of masses and edges, here are some alternatives:

I like the "truck", soft edged, darks setting off lights, soft lines leading around the painting or the lines connecting the figure to the edges of the painting. I'll need to look at this again tomorrow

Today's Thirty in Thirty challenge, now day eight.

Let the Sunshine In/ oil on board/ 6" x 6"/ gifted