Composition And Previsualisation - How A Successful Photographer Produces A Quality Product

Ansel Adams was a very successful and productive artist who made the term previsualisation very important in his day. The meaning that was intended behind previsualisation was that a successful artist and photographer should be able to see behind the color of a particular object being drawn or photographed to the basic black and white version.

The importance of this is for the successful artist to be able to see in their mind the basic lines and textures of an object to successfully produce a quality product. Ansel Adams later said that the term of previsualisation was better stated as visualisation but previsualisation has stuck for many, many years. Adams meant that successful artists should be able to see in their mind’s eye the importance of the textures and lines of a black and white object when the original product was drawn or photographed in color. The only way that a successful artist could grab the attention of a viewer based on the previsualisation concept was to keep in mind the importance of the lines and textures and bringing those items into focus in a successful portrait.

Those that view a portrait or drawing are not aware that the lines and textures of a particular object are what make the drawing such a success, it is up to the artist to bring those items into focus to draw in the viewer’s attention. A successful artist or photographer is aware of the importance of previsualisation at the beginning of the process of taking a successful portrait. Previsualisation has been studied for many years by successful artists since the beginning of Ansel Adams introduction to previsualisation. Any successful artist will be very aware of the importance that previsualisation brings to a finished product.

Without the use of color, artists have to become used to photographing something in just black and white, possibly using a monochromatic filter or for artists by using products such as charcoal to bring a subject into view using simply black and white textures and lines. There is a popular process called chlaroscuro, where artists work with simply black and white paint. The white paint is used to draw in the light of a portrait while the black paint is used to draw lines and textures, bringing out the shape of a particular object. This has become a way for an artist to recreate in black and white exactly what a photographer is able to bring out taking pictures with a monochromatic filter. Artists who are very successful in using the chlaroscuro process are very in tune to the balance between light and dark that must be used to produce a portrait worthy of grabbing a viewer’s attention.

The act of filtering the light and dark within a painted product is very important in producing a product that will force the viewer to stop and take another look at the finished product. Charcoal drawing is also a very important and successful way for artists to bring out the lines and textures of a drawn object. Viewers are naturally drawn to the way that charcoal drawings can bring out the basic texture of a drawn object without the confusion of color being added to the portrait. The act of drawing in black and white goes back to the previsualisation concept originally brought to artist’s attention by Ansel Adams. The ability to draw in black and white with charcoal is not something that is learned automatically, but through years of experience that most successful artists are very aware of.

Just the idea of drawing or taking a photograph in black and white is not enough to draw in the viewer’s attention. There must be concept and content to the object being photographed or drawn to cause a viewer to stop and view the finished product in a different manner. There must be a strength behind the finished product that only a successful artist can bring across. This is a rare quality that only certain artists and photographers can bring across.

It is certainly not something that is done automatically, but with years of practice. Experienced artists and photographers are aware of the importance of strength and quality of a finished product and bring that across in their finished products. For example, if a photographer were to take a color photograph and simply turn it into a black and white product, it would not grab the attention of a viewer automatically. At the beginning of the process, the photographer must keep in mind the importance of lines and textures in grabbing the viewer’s attention even with beginning the process with a colored photograph.

The certain concept that must be kept in mind by the successful artist is the main idea of a successful drawing or painting. The goal of a successful artist is to draw the viewer’s attention away from just the basic color of a finished product and to draw that attention to the lines and textures of an object that is the main purpose of the finished product. It is to a successful artist’s benefit to take into consideration the importance of not only using black and white as a basis for a successful ending product, but to also take into consideration the content of the product being drawn or painted as an object that will draw in the viewer’s attention. An experienced artist or photographer is aware of the importance of these qualities and will always take into consideration these factors.