Edge handling is a fundamental skill of drawing and painting. I’d put it up there with drawing accuracy, values and colour as one of the most important skills of realist art.
The reason I place such importance on edge handling is the great potential it has for creating the illusion of depth.
Types of edges
Although I’ve seen some longer and more detailed lists of types of edges, I think that in practical terms, it all boils down to just three:
- Hard
- Soft
- Lost
Edge relationships
The most important thing to remember about edges is that, like values, it’s the relationships between them that matter. There are no absolute rules to learn about how hard or soft an edge should be. What matters is how soft or hard an edge is in relation to other edges.
It’s not about painting what you see, either. Perhaps more than any other aspect of painting, you can manipulate edges as you see fit. You have a pretty free reign to use edges as you like, accentuating hardness and softness (and obliterating them altogether) to create a more enhanced effect of depth.
I think part of the reason we can be so free with edges is related to how we see. When we look at something, we have a central area of focus and everything else in our peripheral vision is less distinct. I think that’s a large part of the reason why paintings with great variety of edges – and particularly a lot of soft edges away from the main subject – work so well. They mimic how we see more closely, and perhaps accentuate it.
Two simple studies
These two quick studies have been done from the same subject, at the same time. The first has been done with all hard edges, the second with variation in edges.
I’ve done them as simple value studies since it means we’re not distracted by colour.
This first study looks more flat. Whilst there are still life painters who deliberately work in this way, to me to feels less life-like.
Now here’s one with more variation of the edges:
In this second one, there is much more variation:
- The line where the background meets the ground behind the objects has been softened, having the effect of pushing it back and making it less obvious.
- The edges of the cast shadows get softer as then get further away from the objects that cast them. This at least mimics what we see in nature.
- Where the shadow side of the cube meets the background, the values were close enough to allow me to remove the edge completely and paint right across it. There is no edge there, although your mind may create it for you. This is a lost edge.
- Similarly, there is a point towards the top of the shadow side of the sphere where the edge disappears completely, another lost edge.
Which of these studies do you think has the most life, the most effect of depth?
Here’s a shot of the set up for this study, showing how I worked on both at the same time:
Free Webinar on Edge Handling
On Thursday 25th February, 2016, I gave a live demonstration of this study (or one very like it) where I showed how I go about softening the edges to varying degrees.
Here’s the replay:
I painted the same little study of a lemon twice, once with all hard edges and once with a variety of edges, to hopefully show how edge handling can create a greater feeling of depth.
Here too is a clearer (and colour-corrected) pic of the two studies at the point at which I left them at the end of the webinar:
If you find this interesting, and would like to think more deeply about how we perceive edges and how we may be able to manipulate them to create a greater feeling of depth in our pictures, I’d highly recommend reading Anthony Waichulis’ article on the perceptual function of edges.
Best wishes, and thanks for reading
Paul
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Hi Paul,
This is such a fantastic post – thank you! I have been consciously trying to develop softer edges in my work lately, but the problem is that sometimes they all become uniformly soft . So this has really given me some guidance on how I might address that and create more variety. It’s interesting, I wouldn’t have thought to make the shadow side of the cube the same colour as the background – I have a tendency to look into things too much and I need to squint my eyes down more so I don’t notice every single value difference.
It’s interesting also that even though the paintings with greater edge variety look more realistic, the ones with the harder edges do travel well when viewed from a distance – particularly the first lemon. I like both paintings, but appreciate the point you make
Anyway, thanks again for sharing your knowledge.
Fiona
Thanks Fiona, I’m really glad you found it useful!
Painting across edges to remove them entirely (in a controlled way!) has a powerful effect on the life of paintings. I think it may be partly because it requires the engagement of a viewer’s brain in order to recreate the edge that you’ve removed. Whatever the reason, it works well 🙂
I agree that the hard-edged version has more impact at a distance. One of the difficult balances we need to find is having our paintings work from across the room and also up close. Where on that continuum you place yourself is largely a matter of personal choice I think. I love Veronese and later Rembrandt and Velazquez for the abstract quality of their paint up close. But I also love very well done trompe l’oel for it’s impact up close. Anthony Waichulis is a great example of that.
This post and the webinar have opened my eyes more than any other teaching I’ve found online – I can all of a sudden recognise my own tendency to treat all edges too similarly despite having, I thought, grasped the concept already. Thank you Paul for your work and generosity of spirit in sharing what you’ve learned.
I made some square and rectangular blocks after watching your values webinar, but Im wondering where to get/how to make spheres?
Thank you Paul. Please keep these posts coming, much appreciated!
Thanks Jane, I will 🙂 Just having a little hiatus due to illness at the moment, but will be back soon.
Just to say thank you, and get well soon.
Thanks Romy 🙂
Thank you Paul for your videos. Could you do a video on brushes? Loading the brush? Which brush to use when? What are good brushes? I am pretty much teaching myself also, and I get confused about which brush to use, and I seem to get too much paint on my brush. Thanks!
Certainly I’ll try to do that at some point Paris.
In the meantime, I highly recommend Rosemary’s brushes. They really are superb. Personally, I like to paint mostly with small to mid-sized long filberts mostly, with some sable rounds for detail and line. My paintings are usually quite small. It depends very much on what you want to achieve, but if you get a reasonable range of filberts you should be fine in most situations.
Dear Paul,
I recently started learning how to draw (self-thought, too – and hoping to take up painting after I get used to drawing), and your site has been a great help so far.
I have a question.
Even though I can manage accuracy to a degree, I’m not really satisfied with my drawings. They feel “heavy-handed”, so to say; there’s a certain rigidness to them that I don’t really like.
Could it be the edges? Or line quality? Is there some exercise I can do to better this – to breathe some life into my lines?
Thank you!
I think that what you want is to develop your sensitivity to line. That takes time, patience and practice. I have an exercise I call Breathing Lines, which is a kind of hybrid of drawing and meditation which I often use myself as a warm-up before drawing. I feel it brings you into close contact with your line and develops a relaxed control if done regularly. I’d recommend 5 or 10 minutes a day for a few weeks. You can see a demo of it here:
https://vimeo.com/146163094
Dear Paul ,
First of all I would like to say thank you for your valuable tutorials which you share here , I live in a part of the world that personaliy suffering of lack of reliable resources to follow , because of sanctions laws I have no access to online books to purchase. As a self thought semi intermediate oil painter I have to say it’s really difficult to find a good free tutorials . Much appreciated.
very useful article to make drawing look more 3d dimensional, any book you recommend talking in depth in that matter ?
thx
Hm I cant think of a book that deals specifically in edges this way, sorry. I’d recommend getting some single still life subjects – a single lemon, something simple like that – and just practising with it.