Reading a painting

I remember reading some years ago that because we (in England – not in all countries) read a book from left to right, we tend to read a picture the same way. This made sense to me. In painting I will make a road, stream, fence etc lead into the picture from the lower left. I do feel that a similar line in from the lower right tends to lead the eye out of the picture.

As in all art, there are no hard-and-fast rules. What works for me may work only for me. Other artists may have their own experiences on this.

Dennis Tindall, by email

Elements produced in Illustrator were pasted-in where required for detail. The final result emulated a watercolour painting. Also, I am currently doing a series of ships in which the more technical elements are produced in Illustrator and the remaining ones in a combination of Illustrator and Photoshop.

Digital artwork is not cheating in any respect, as has been well demonstrated by established artists.

Martin Wilson, by email