Chapter 10: Using Edges When Painting a Picture

In Chapters 7 and 8, we discussed value and color as the two most important artistic principles when creating art and images. In Chapter 9, we discussed ways to use light effectively. This chapter deals with the main problem that artists have when using value and color. This problem is the edges, where differing values, colors, or both meet. You need to know how to depict the transition from one shape to the next within an image. The careful and intelligent placement of different shapes , and how you handle the edges, is at the core of successful picture making, whether decorative or representational. This chapter will discuss the different types of edges, their variations, their use, and common problems associated with edges when you are painting. While it is easy to describe the different types of edges found in art, there are no rules for their use. However, this chapter will offer some generalities that can help give you more confidence as you plan and execute your paintings, so they will become better. This chapter shows how edges interact with each other in the painting process.

Types of Edges

You will find only five types of edges in most digital and traditional art. Not all of the different edges will always be found in each painting, but obviously there will always be at least one kind of edge present in every work of art. The five types are as follows :

Rough/ragged edges. ‚   ‚  Rough edges are quite possibly the most noticeable of all the edge types and will be hard to miss when in an image. An example is shown in Figure 10.1. Depending on the technique, rough edges may be the most common type of edge within a painting. Traditionally, they are usually created using a dry-brush technique. They are much easier to create in the digital world and in just about every raster application.

Figure 10.1: An example of a rough and/or ragged edge.

Razor -sharp edges. ‚   ‚  Razor-sharp edges are visually the harshest edge. An example is shown in Figure 10.2. They have a very distinct cutout appearance, as if you cut out a shape and simply laid it down on the picture plane. Traditionally, this type of edge is relatively difficult to create unless you are using some sort of masking technique. These edges are easy to create digitally and can be created by both raster and vector applications. Their use is mainly in decorative art and, in a limited way, within representational painting.

Figure 10.2: An example of a razor-sharp edge.

Hard edges. ‚   ‚  Hard edges are just as the name suggests. An example is shown in Figure 10.3. They have a hard appearance, though not necessarily a cutout appearance. These edges will not be the most common edge found in most paintings, but they usually will be present. They are useful in attracting attention to your center of interest.

Figure 10.3: An example of a hard edge.

Soft edges. ‚   ‚  Soft edges are the most common type of edge found in paintings. An example is shown in Figure 10.4. They are the most common edge because there is so much variation in their size and how they are painted . They vary in width from being almost hard to being non-edges. As with all edges, you need to know how to use them to be successful at digital painting. These edges have numerous looks. You can create them within different raster applications but you can only imitate them in vector programs.

Figure 10.4: An example of a soft edge.

Non-edges or lost edges. ‚   ‚  The last type of edge is not really an edge at all; rather, it is more like the lack of an edge. An example is shown in Figure 10.5. As we look at the world around us, we see many instances where there are no definable edges between separate objects. This may be a function of the lighting, the amount of time that we have to look at an object, the object's distance, or any number of other reasons. If you do not see an edge, why paint an edge? This seems to be one of the hardest concepts for artists to grasp. For some reason, people seem to want to compartmentalize the world around them, and this means that individual objects have a contour. While intellectually we all know that this is true, this is not always the case visually. The lack of an edge can best be represented by an even gradation. These non-edges are some of the easiest effects to create in digital painting programs, yet their use is avoided.

Figure 10.5: An example of a non-edge.