Chapter 24, Rhythm: A Beautiful Way to Organize Chaos

From my upcoming new edition (May 2024) of The Art Studio Companion

In this study, we examine using rhythm in painting to organize chaotic reality. Sometimes the artist is faced with a bunch of visual chaos, everything coming at them from different directions. This lesson is basically an exercise in pattern recognition.

Visual rhythm in this art lesson explores pattern recognition, and offers a beautiful solution to organizing chaos on the canvas. By discerning and accenting certain visual patterns, we can create a sense of harmony that transforms what could be overwhelming chaos into an enjoyable and aesthetically pleasing experience for the viewer. This process allows for the painting to resonate with a sense of order and coherence, elevating the artwork beyond a mere collection of random details to a captivating visual whole.

In my portrait of my friend, architect Joseph Castro, I explore this challenge. Joseph in conversation would often raise his eyebrow and curl his lip. I noticed how these two things curved into arches, and arches would become the visual theme. Then I began to see arches throughout his face, his shirt, and the leather background (an old jacket hung on the wall behind him).

Any complex subject is visually chaotic; with incongruent shapes and lots of details. When you look at something like a person’s face or a panoramic landscape there are a million things to look at—out of all that stuff which do you draw/paint? One of the fun and great challenges for an artist is to organize this chaos in a meaningful way using visual rhythms.

Visual rhythms are made up of similar or complementary angles, shapes, contours, or lines. In the process of composing this painting I was looking for shapes and lights that could “double” for an “arch.” Was it possible that I could accent an arch of the lip, nose, brow, collar, or ear?

182 Newberry, Joseph, acrylic, 16 x 12”.

183 Demo of with my markups. Accenting the patterns of arcs.

An important consequence of looking for rhythms is that the artist doesn’t get lost in detail but is constantly scanning the whole painting for energy and patterns.

In the demo 184, you can see all the rhythms of detail of shapes and contours I was seeing in his head, background, and part of his shirt; respectively marked in orange, green, and blue. I would like to mention that I was not making them up where I did not see them, I was merely accenting what was already there.

By using visual rhythms to organize a complex subject, you can create a harmonious and cohesive composition that captures the essence of your subject. This technique not only allows for greater control over the image but also helps to develop your eye for patterns and energy.[1]

Whether working with a portrait, still-life, or a landscape, the use of visual rhythms can transform chaos into an elegant solution. Consequently, inviting the viewer into a world of harmony. So next time you're faced with a visually chaotic subject, remember to look for the rhythms and use them to elevate your art and inspire the viewer.

Practice 

As always, it is crucial to reinforce your understanding through practice. For this lesson I suggest doing an ink drawing of a complex subject, like a tree with crazy branches. Take about an hour to simply draw all the branch contours, specifically looking for repeated patterns.

Keep in mind that fine art is always a little messy. Make sure to slightly vary the patterns you find. The tree will then feel organically real but pleasing to the eye.

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[1] “The ability to spot existing or emerging patterns is one of the most (if not the most) critical skills in intelligent decision making, though we’re mostly unaware that we do it all the time. Combining past experience, intuition, and common sense, the ability to recognize patterns gives us the ability to predict what will happen next with some degree of accuracy. The better able we are to predict what will happen, the more intelligent we become.” Venessa Miemis, Essential Skills for 21^st Century Survival: Part I: Pattern Recognition, 2010.