14 Vary the Edges

Use a variety of soft and hard edges to direct the viewer’s focus and create the illusion of three-dimensional space. I keep the hardest, most crisp edges around the face and eyes. The closer to the ends of the painting, or further back in space the object is, the softer the edges become; sometimes they’ll be lost entirely. Edges can also be used to imply movement. A blurry edge on a wing looks like the dragon has just landed or is about to fly off, and helps to bring the image to life.