The Anatomy of a Painting

Because we see color first we are inclined to give it first place in painting. Since it is pure quality we are enthralled by it.  Consider the human body. There is flesh and bone under the skin. In the painting I see line as the bone, values as the flesh and color as the skin. The marks we make on paper or canvas are elements of design. Design is the gravity that holds your picture together.  By observation, anyone can learn to draw things, but design deals not with things but with relationships among things. Design gives us a tribunal so that we can judge our marks and gives us a quality of ease when we know that we know.

Frank Webb