John Rowland Kay
2025
I see composition as the basic skeleton of a painting, all the flesh of colour, texture, detail and technique need strong bones to carry the weight. I believe that composition is the secret key to success in painting. To give some meaning to the term composition two aspects need to be considered. First, in a good composition the parts of the painting should link to or have a special relationship to the frame. Second the various parts of the painting should have an internal coherence, the forms, the shapes and the interrelationship of tones should form a cohesive whole, i.e. every part of it should have a reason for being there. Leaving just one part out would detract from the whole. If you have ever, on entering an exhibition hall, had your attention forcibly drawn to one picture in particular, taking your immediate attention as no others do, it is highly likely that that particular painting had a very skilful composition .
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