Compositional sightlines

[Chris Saper]

Dear Peggy,

I cannot agree with you more about the importance of these sightlines in a painting. They are every bit as powerful a tool as line shape, value, etc. yet I so rarely see the sightline being discussed, much less taught.

The sightline can connect and make whole a composition which would otherwise feel 'broken' or incomplete. It is also just as effective in a single-subject painting as a multiple-subject painting, although more essential in the latter, to avoid the feeling of "Let's all line up and smile for the camera!" Moreover, the use of the sightline adds a story-telling dimension that the other compositional tools simply cannot, at least in as effective a fashion. Theere is an amazing shift in the dynamics of a painting once one of the figures directly engages the viewer.

I am attaching a piece which is nearly complete, and whose composition I began building from several Bouguereau pieces. The hours spent working out the composition were, I thought, well worth the energy.