VALUE: Diebenkorn Compositions

Jack Ryan

Kathy Heglin

Last night began with a discussion on the work of Richard Diebenkorn and small scale compositions in general. Each student had their own arrangement of 3 -5 objects. Jack's drawing is very well composed, engaging all four sides of the composition. The objects are locked into the space. Your "eye" is directed over and under the positive shapes moving up the page. A bit more contrast in the values would increase the dynamics as well as add clarity.
Kathy has effectively used diagonals in her composition creating a zig-zag, "s-like" formation. There is an interesting flatness to the space. It's as if we are viewing two different angles of the space; one for the objects and another for the background. The objects appear to float on the background partially due to the similarity in size but also the placement (none of the shapes overlap). Kathy's drawing, like Jack's, moves up the page rather than into it.