Trish Beckham

Use your smartphone to help you compose!

For me, the toughest part of the painting process is the composition. There's almost always that part of the process where I ask myself "Why isn't it working?". - It's always the composition!!
In this painting, I was struggling with the bushes in front of the gas station- the edge was too hard and it pulled my eye away from the car. I also thought the flow or light pattern wasn't quite right.

This is a good time to pull out the cell phone and take a picture of the painting. I use the phone's internal app to turn the painting image to black and white.

Boiling down the value pattern allows me to easily see any troublesome areas. I can use the paint function to change the pattern.

Using broad strokes and scribbles on the image copy instead of the actual painting is very liberating! It allows for spontaneity without worry of mud making. (Easily achieved if you redo an area in search of the "right"thing.) It's also great for pure composition without regard to subject matter!

"Night on A1A" by Trish Beckham
18" x 36" oil on board