Lose Edges, Join Shapes

When MARK HARRISON realised his favourite artists all used the same trick, he decided to try the same. He shows how lost edges can create a more painterly finish

When I was looking at the work of artists that I admire recently, I realised there was a common thread that ran through almost all of them: they lose edges and merge shapes together. This not only helps the atmosphere of the painting, as things are suggested rather than stated, but also the design (composition) becomes stronger as the shapes become larger.

The painting can then work on two levels: as a representational image (a location or figure, for example) and as a group of shapes that can have an abstract quality to them – a design, or a pattern if you like.

I decided that I needed to remind myself of this basic approach and so I wrote it down on a piece of paper and stuck it to my easel: “Lose edges, join shapes.” The phrase became a kind of mantra.

A second mantra developed – “It’s the painting, not the place” – that was a reminder not to be too literal and illustrative by trying to include everything in front of me.

For this masterclass, I chose to paint a scene from Venice that could easily have been very descriptive as it was filled with crumbling textures, distinctive architecture and canal reflections. I wanted to get across the mysterious side of the Italian city, however, so I kept tempting detail down to a minimum and focused on losing edges and joining larger shapes to give the painting a stronger design. www.paintingsbymarkharrison.com

1 Sketch roughly

I started by very roughly drawing out the composition, just to see how it would fit in the canvas format. I adjusted the placement of the buildings and key elements slightly to get a better composition and roughly drew it in with a small Bristlewhite brush, using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquinand (to get it to dry quicker) Lukas Medium 5. When I needed to remove or correct lines, I erased them with a rag dipped in clean turpentine.