Change the Way You See and Understand Art Originally published in 1899, Arthur Wesley Dow\'s Composition remains a seminal reference for serious artists, designers and craftspeople.
This book is also available from Echo Point Books as a paperback (ISBN 1635619637)..
This book is a must for anyone wishing to infuse their creativity with greater skill and personal expression.
The well-illustrated and thought-provoking instruction is formatted as a several sets of lessons, designed to broaden and deepen the way in which art is viewed and understood.
A practical guide to creating images based on the harmonic relations of visual elements, it is designed to aid in developing an appreciation of the whole visual field.
The concepts presented here can be applied to all types of design, whether painting, architecture, sculpture, crafts and much more.
He also considered music as a close relative to the fine arts, sometimes referring to the essence of a composition as visual music.
Referencing many art forms, Dow placed a special emphasis on Japanese printmaking to demonstrate essential components of composition. regard drawing as a preparation for design, whereas the very opposite is the logical order-design [is] a preparation for drawing. . .
In Dow\'s words, Schools .
Building from the general to the specific was seen as a radical departure from the approach in vogue at that time, which was strongly oriented toward learning by imitation.
Dow taught for many years at Columbia University, mentoring numerous aspiring young artists of the day, including Georgia O\'Keeffe.
He encourages students to look first at the relationship between line, space, color, light and shadow, thus building a strong foundation for a broad range of creative endeavors.
Change the Way You See and Understand Art Originally published in 1899, Arthur Wesley Dow\'s Composition remains a seminal reference for serious artists, designers and craftspeople
