It’s 5:45 AM.
I’m sitting cross legged on a cushion on the floor.
Most of the world around me is still in bed; there are no cars on the street outside, no noise from the neighbours. Michelle is still asleep.
In front of me on the floor is my little table easel with a pot of water, an ink-stone, an ink-stick and a Chinese brush. I have a few sheets of newsprint and tracing paper beside me ready to go.
The sound of wood pigeons cooing softly in the trees outside my window is drifting into the room, interspersed with the rasping cackling of a magpie and the lilting sing-song of a blackbird. There’s a dull, distant roar from a plane on it’s way to or from Heathrow airport, and every so often the metallic clack and screech of a train passing by the foot of the garden. Sassy, one of our cats, is sitting on my pile of drawings from yesterday morning, gazing up at me and trying to get my attention. She wants a pat.
I’m getting ready to do my daily composition practice.
My hand is slowly circling the ink stick in a little puddle of water on the ink stone. I’m feeling increasingly calm. I’m starting to think about the exercise I’m going to do today. I’m not putting any pressure on the ink stick, but in about ten to fifteen minutes, I’ll have a little pool of thick, gloopy black ink to start drawing with.
I’m not putting any pressure on myself either. I’ve shown up, sat down and started, and that’s enough. I’ve kept my early morning appointment with myself and that’s all I have to do.
As I start to draw with the brush, my attention gradually focuses in on the line it leaves as it travels slowly across the sheet of newsprint. The sounds of the birds and other minor distractions melt out of consciousness as I add more lines to the design and the relationships between them develop and change. Attention becomes complete. The chatter in my brain has stilled.
I’m completely in the moment.
My Composition Workstation
This is the set up for my composition practise with the Chinese brush and ink. The first thing I see every morning after making coffee.
For just over three weeks now, this has been how I start every day. If I start early enough, I can comfortably draw for an hour or so before I have to start thinking about getting ready for work. When I first started this practice I didn’t place any demands on the amount of time I would practice for. In the beginning, it would sometimes be only ten minutes or so.
The interesting thing is that it’s only taken two or three weeks for this practice session to become ingrained as a habit.
I don’t have to think about it now, don’t have to make myself do it. It’s become routine. Before I know it, I’m sitting down and mixing up the ink. It’s become effortless.
A Road Map for Composition Practice
Regular readers will know by now that I’m primarily practising composition at the moment. I’ve decided that for all my practice over the last few years I’ve neglected composition and design – picture making, if you like – so I’m devoting some time every day to deliberate, focused practice.
In order to practise effectively, I think it’s very helpful to have a road map, a direction. If your road is ready mapped out before you, you don’t have to waste time sitting around wondering what you’re going to do. It’s that much easier to get started.
The road map I’m using for my composition practice is a book, Composition: A Series of Exercises in Art Structure for the use of Teachers and Students by Arthur Wesley Dow.
Apart from being an utterly fantastic book it’s also out of copyright and you can download it for free here. If you’d rather have a hard copy, you can purchase it from Amazon in various editions and reprints.
The Philosophy: Excerpts From the Introduction
I’ve chosen this book because it’s a very practical approach to developing compositional skill that starts simply and grows in complexity. It is a series of practical exercises for the student to follow.
For Dow, the author, this book is about much more than just composition practice. The book starts with this intriguing opening:
In writing this book my main purpose is to set forth a way of thinking about art.”
Serious stuff. But if my experience so far of the exercises is anything to go by, that’s not hyperbole.
Dow defines composition and design as:
…the putting together of lines, masses and colours in order to make harmony.
What I particularly like about this book is that although it was written at the start of the last century, it is underpinned by an approach which is being vindicated by recent findings in neuroscience, specifically most of thought is unconscious, and that repeating specific actions builds neural networks in the brain that become an integral part of unconscious thought.
This is how skill develops. Dow intuited this in his own day without the benefit of the insights of the brain scientists, and describes the process of learning to paint and draw very succinctly as follows:
The many different acts and processes combined in a work of art may be attacked and mastered one by one, and thereby a power gained to handle them unconsciously when they must be used together. If a few elements can be united harmoniously, a step has been taken towards further creation.
The emphasis is mine. Dow has already got me in on his side by this point. But he has one more foundational and very interesting view: that drawing should be approached from a point of view of design first, imitation second. This is in stark contrast to the prevailing view in the representational revival schools, the ateliers and academies of the present, which approach art from the imitative point of view first – in fact, from what I can see, almost exclusively.
It’s also in stark contrast to the way I’ve been training myself for the past five years.
Which approach is right? Imitative or creative? Neither or both perhaps. It seems to me that these things must be tested extensively under the pencil, charcoal stick and brush before any really useful conclusions can be drawn. Almost all my practice to date has been from the imitative point of view. I’ve learned a lot, but found myself still frustrated when I come to make pictures.
Now I’m approaching things from the design point of view. And my brain is changing.
The Structure
The exercises in Dow’s book are broadly broken down into three main sections:
1. Line
Half the book is devoted to composition with line. In this section, Dow recommends practising with a Japanese brush and ink.
At the time of writing, the west had much more contact with Japan than China.
Times change. My brush is Chinese.
Dow breaks down a few elements of composition and then gives a series of exercises to work through, specifically designed to practice these elements:
- Opposition: a right angle being the most obvious example
- Transition: the softening of opposition
- Subordination: the repeating of elements thematically related to a single, dominating one. A collection of trees, say, with one being the main focus
- Repetition
- Symmetry
2. Value
Dow calls this ‘notan,’ perhaps to more clearly differentiate it from the study of value for modelling. Notan is the interplay of light and dark in design. Think of the Yin Yang symbol. That’s notan.
Starting with a series of exercises in two values (which may be two shades of grey or black and white) the book then moves on to more exercises with three values and then straight to ‘more than three’ values.
But by far the majority of this section is devoted to design exercises in two values only.
3. Colour
This is the final section, and builds on the two previous ones. I think it will be illustrative here to quote the first sentence of Dow’s section on colour:
Colour, with it’s infinity of relations, is baffling; its finer harmonies, like those of music, can be grasped by the appreciations only, not by reasoning or analysis.
Interestingly, Dow uses Munsell as the basis for his approach to practising colour design. Munsell breaks colour into three constituent parts, each independent of the other: value (degree of darkness or light), chroma (best thought of as brightness, or intensity, with grey at one end of the scale and very bright yellows and oranges at the other) and hue (red, blue, yellow etc.)
I’ve practised much with Munsell, but only from a point of view of value modelling and learning how local colour changes across a form as it turns from light to shadow. Whilst the colour section is the shortest portion of the book, Dow does give plenty of exercises designed to develop appreciation of colour harmony in design.
Whilst I admit I’m absolutely itching to get to this part of the book, I’m trying to keep a hold of my enthusiasm and am working through it in sequence. I’m still on the initial exercises in line and that’s quite enough to be going on with for now.
Equipment and Approach: Chinese Brush and Ink
Time for some pictures.
First, here’s a quick video of one of my practice sessions in progress. What I’m doing here is tracing a variation of a composition over the original. I wanted to see if this design would work better in a long format rectangle with more space between the clementines:
What follows here is sample of the exercises I’ve been doing at each stage. Although I first started messing about with these exercises around last Christmas time, it’s only for the last three weeks that I’ve been doing daily practice with them.
First practice drawings. These were done primarily to get used to using the Chinese brush and ink. The designs are copied from the Dow book.
These plaid designs are practice of the composition principle of opposition – straight lines intersecting at right angles.
Three more drawings practising opposition.
Practising ‘transition,’ the softening of opposition with curves.
Practising the creation of repeat patterns
Practising different ways to divide a square with regular designs. This is practising the placement of elements within a format, and is where I’m up to now. Rectangles and circular formats with come next.
This isn’t really looking like hard work is it? This is looking very much like play.
And it is. That’s a strength I think. I try endless variations of these designs, each one shifting and growing now more complex, now more simple.Tangents are followed out of sheer curiosity, just to see where they lead. Branches grow from the main stem of the practice all the time and spread,sometimes strong ones and sometimes weak.
None of it is really judged. At least, none of it is judged harshly. I tend to pick ones that I like the most and work up yet more variations of them, discarding ones that didn’t come off so well. But none of them are ever seen as failures. They are all, strong or weak, joyful explorations of design. They’re fun. This is the way practice is meant to be.
But there’s a serious point here too: the new neural networks that we physically form in our brains when we practice something repeatedly become stronger, more defined, when we’re enjoying what we do. You should be enjoying yourself when you practice. That means you’re learning better, more completely.
I’ll go into this in more detail in future posts, but for anyone who’s interesting in finding out more I’d recommend The Art of Changing the Brain by James E. Zull.
A Lesson in Creativity
I’m going to wrap this post up today with a quote from the man himself, since no-one can really put it better than he can:
Study of composition of Line, Mass and Colour leads to appreciation of all forms of art and of the beauty of nature. Drawing of natural objects then becomes a language of expression
There you have it. What we’re dealing with here is a series of exercises designed to help you learn to express yourself more fully and more eloquently. This is a real departure from all the practice that I’ve done over the last five years. I thought it was all about learning to see. I’m beginning to wonder if perhaps I was wrong – or at least, only partly right.
In a very real way, instead of imitate, I’ve begun to create. And it feels good.
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Lovely. I taught in art schools on and off for years and my message to students was (and is) always that the first thing you see when you look at an artwork is the state of the page (some students pages look like they’d slept on them or reversed the car over it), the second thing is the design/layout/composition/use of the page and the last thing is…the drawing. All three of these observations done in a spilt second. I am a designer, and think that the current (and increasing) move in colleges further away from representationalism and design is a disservice to all image makers. My main point would be that designers accept conceptualism, while conceptualists sneer at design. But each needs the other to be complete.
I wonder if any of that makes sense…?!
Hey Paul great to see you still at it. I often paint in the winter and get out the habit as the weather turns and exhibs get going but I admire you getting up, if only my thyroid kicked in earlier :-). No excuse I know. I’ve got a copy of the Dow book but not worked through it as such. Two others I have is Mastering Composition Ian Roberts which I think is one of the better ones I ‘ve seen + Poore’s Pictoeiral Compostion – An Introduction. Anyhow thanks for the link I appreciate being able to link in and keeps me motivated. Best Robert.
Awesome stuff. I very much enjoy reading about your enjoyment to better yourself. Very inspiring.Thanks.
Hi Julie, nice to see you back.
That’s a really interesting point about the things we notice first. I have no doubt that you’re right.
Unfortunately my drawings get a bit messed up by the cats sometimes though 🙂 I should learn not to leave them lying around on the floor!
>designers accept conceptualism, while conceptualists sneer at design
Another very good point. It makes perfect sense and again, I’m sure you’re right that conceptualists sneer at design.
I was at a life drawing class a while back and an abstract artist there, who produced rapid fire squiggles which bore no relation at all the models, sneered quite loudly about my drawings, calling them ‘pretty pictures’. I didn’t mind, but I did think that her point of view was quite narrow and that she was limiting herself. Some of her pieces had something nice about them, but none of them had any sense of design, unconscious or otherwise.
Hey Robert, really good to hear from you again! It’s been a while.
Yep, I’m still at it. It’s more of a challenge to keep going now I’m working full time, but this new way of practising seems to be helping me to keep it together. Sometimes I think it’s what keeps me sane!
Thanks for the book recommendations. I haven’t heard of the Roberts book but will look it up. The Poor book is on my wish-list.
How is your practice going?
Hi John, nice to see you again. Glad you liked the post.
BTW, did you find any reviews of the Ted Seth Jacobs figure drawing book? I remember we were chatting about that in the comments before. I’m still really interested in getting it but it’s still too expensive for me right now, and I kind of think this practise is going to be more profitable for me at the moment.
Drop me a line, let me know what you’re up to.
I admire your discipline, not least the early morning start. (Loved the birds tweeting in your film!). Now get to bed!!!!
2 more great books you may want to check out: Principles of Two-Dimensional Design by Wucius Wong and Japanese Design Motifs which is a Dover publication. The Motifs book will just give you lots of ideas for practice. As a retired art teacher, I believe drawing is the core of all.
Paul, this looks like a great little ritual, thanks for sharing. I remember starting these exercises a year or two back, but I wasn’t using ink and brush; it does look like fun. I need to get a decent brush and try again.
I like your slow and deliberate approach in the video. That seems to me to be a good way to develop an intuitive feel.
You will be busy with Dow for a while, but on the subject of books:
Poore’s “Pictorial Composition” is available as a free download, on Archive.org and Project Gutenberg.
The edition for sale by Dover is a cut down version of this book, with different example paintings.
Other books you may like to check out sometime (these are also free downloads, great price!)
Walter Crane’s “Line and Form” – Project Gutenberg has a good copy.
Richard G Hatton’s “Figure Composition” – just checked, still available on archive.org.
What a beautiful way to practice.
Isn’t it amazing how as long as you think you can you can keep learning throughout your life. I really appreciate your willingness to share your exploration, harder than it looks. Its quite something to have that feeling you may have been barking up the wrong tree for a few years and then carry on anyway! Each person has got to find their own thread and stay with it, but it’s very fortifying to get a glimpse of someone else along the way! I am working on abstracting images at the moment and finding out its all about design and placement. I practice by tearing elements out of colour magazines and moving them around on the support until the placement intuitively feels right and then use this as a basis for the painting or drawing.
… well not so bad Paul. Decided to stop trying all those diff mediums and settle on one + panel sometimes canvas. MDF is just cheaper :-). Biggest diff is getting some small brushes no wonder I was struggling so getting better outcomes re paint handling. I’ve learned a lot through copy but want to get more realist and individual now so working on that. Was going to go for D Eye this year but I’m leaving it too much other stuff going on! Ch Robert
Hi Paul, I’ve had a look at the Dow book and it seems impressive. I intend to give it a real go in a similar way to you, just a few hours later in the day! Of course it isnt a question of design or drawing, they aren’t mutually exclusive and both are importatant however I am absolutely sure that design ability is the most important and also that within the whole field of design colour is the most important element. Take a look at Rossetti’s watercolours of tha 1850’s, the drawing is at times pretty rudimentary to be polite, and yet the pictures are one of the great achievments of 19th century art. Rossetti encouraged Burne-Jones to design design and drsign and learn the drawing ‘on the job’ and well, you know my opinion of Burne-Jones.
I will be very interested to see how your practicing feeds through into actual picture making which I suppose is the acid test, I expect the results will be exciting.
best wishes as ever
Hi Julie,
>I admire your discipline, not least the early morning start.
I don’t deserve that compliment I don’t think, because there isn’t really any discipline involved! Honestly, it’s true. When I used to force myself to practice even when I didn’t feel like it, that took discipline. This kind of practice doesn’t, I find. I don’t have to make myself do it, I can’t wait to get started when I get up. I think there’s a big difference. At least, it feels very different.
So thanks, that’s a very nice thing to say, but it’s kind of like saying to someone that they’re disciplined for eating every day. Well, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but hopefully you get what I mean.
As for getting up so early, that’s something I approached very gradually in stages too. Usually I get to bed very early these days so usually get enough sleep (tonight the heat is keeping me up!)
The thing is, with both these things, regular practice sessions and getting up early, I started very small with the idea of getting them ingrained as a habit. It took only a couple of weeks for it to become routine, and something that requires no effort now to keep going. I think part of the answer lies in being kind to yourself, starting small, and building gradually.
Sorry for the long reply but I wanted to explain why I don’t feel I deserve to be thought of disciplined. This is something much easier and at the same time more joyous than discipline. There’s nothing remarkable about me. Anyone can do this. It just takes…practice 🙂
>Now get to bed!!!!
Lol! Can’t argue with that! I did stay up far too late last night and now tonight I can’t sleep. How is the heat in Ireland?
Hi Peggy, thanks for chiming in, and for those two book recommendations. They both look fascinating. I’m especially tempted by the Japanese crest designs book, which has just made it onto my Amazon wish list.
The breadcrumb trail of related books also turned up some some that look beautiful. Damn you and your cross-sell techniques Amazon!
I really like the look of this one:
Pattern Sourcebook: Chinese Style
Hi Chris,
>this looks like a great little ritual
Ritual is a great word for it! It expresses something of the meditative quality of the practice too, something of the peace of mind it gives me.
Thanks also for those book recommendations. Free too! My favourite kind.
Here’s links to them for other readers:
Pictorial Composition
Line and Form
Figure Composition
Thanks Chris
Hi Cindy, thanks for popping in.
Beautiful is right. It’s hard to put into words how good it feels to do, so I won’t try. But I think you get it anyway. I really recommend you give it a go. The equipment is cheap and the time investment minimal.
Hi Christine,
>you can keep learning throughout your life
Indeed you can, and this is one of the most exciting lessons of neuroscience. You absolutely can teach an old dog new tricks. And in fact, the way to keep your brain fresh and alert and functioning properly is to be continually learning new things.
As artists we’re particularly well placed to take advantage of that I think, there are always fresh challenges for us to try.
>Its quite something to have that feeling you may have been barking up the wrong tree for a few years and then carry on anyway!
Well, not so much the wrong tree. Perhaps it’s more that I’ve found another tree that I should have been barking up too, and in fact I probably should have barked up that one first.
I’m a firm believer that no knowledge is ever wasted, and all the stuff I’ve learned so far will fold into whatever comes next. But I do see what you mean. I’m just looking forward to all the wonderful explorations to come.
Your decoupage practice sounds to me like a wonderful way to practice spacing and proportion which, after all, is what design is all about. this kind of design anyway.
Thanks for the interesting comment.
Hi Robert, thanks for bringing me up to date.
>Decided to stop trying all those diff mediums and settle on one + panel sometimes canvas. MDF is just cheaper 🙂
Good move.
>want to get more realist and individual now
you know, I’ve found the best way to develop individual style is to allow it to grow naturally by producing series of similar pieces. Like, a lot of them. 30 of this, 20 of that. Then stick them all up on the wall and look for common elements to develop further. That’s your style.
Hi David, great to hear from you again!
>I intend to give it a real go
From what I know of your primary concerns with your work, I really think this book is tailor made for you. I think you’ll love it.
A really interesting thing to try, in a similar vein, would be to take some of your favourite pre-raphaelite designs, simplify them down, and try different variations of them. Dow recommends this at one point. Who knows, you might come up with something nicer than Burne-Jones! (Sorry, was that sacrilege?)
>it isnt a question of design or drawing, they aren’t mutually exclusive and both are importatant however I am absolutely sure that design ability is the most important
I think I would agree with that. On colour though, I personally see it as a part of the whole, and think that perhaps the design in line is responsible for most of the fine balance of a composition.
But, since we’re both doing it now, we’ll be able to compare notes and see what we find as we go. I’d love that. If you’d agree to do it, I’d love to share what your explorations find with readers here too. Only if you want to of course.
>you know my opinion of Burne-Jones.
I do, and having had my eyes opened to his works by looking at them and discussing them with you, I agree with it.
Once again your blog gives me inspiration–like you, I love the early morning hours and often draw then. I have the Dow book, and tried the Notan section before, but think I will try setting up the way you suggest and doing daily work with it.
I think there’s a “Dow” look to some of his disciples artwork that I love!
Judy Warner
well, now you’ve made it impossible for me to back out of doing the work of course I will be happy to share my impressions! Have you ever thought of taking up politics?!
Hi Judy.
Isn’t the early morning the most special part of the day? There’s something so peaceful about that time of day, I think it’s the perfect time for contemplative work.
That’s very cool you’re going to have another stab at Dow. Please let me know how you get on. If you’d lie to share some of your impressions too, that’ would be really helpful for people I think. If that’s a bit too public (and I’d quite understand if you find it so) please email me and we can chat about it more privately.
Have you got any links for Dow’s followers’ work? I’d love to see some.
Sorry David, I didn’t mean to pressure you! I’m just very excited about what I’m learning and I’m sure people must get bored of me going on about about my own stuff all the time. It would be great for people to be able to read another perspective I think.
If you’re up for it, email me whatever you like and I’ll put it up here. But please don’t feel duty bound. Sometimes practice has to be private or it becomes pressured (I know, take it from me) and that would defeat the object.
>Have you ever thought of taking up politics?!
Hah! Yes but unfortunately I’m a really bad liar. I think that rules a career in politics out.
This is definitely a meditation practice – and how fitting that you should be meditating on the Dow ( sorry, but I cannot resist a pun !) Seriously though, thank you for sharing your Tao – I was searching today for some enlightenment on the subject of tonal values and how to make tonal sketches, and was thrilled to find your Munsell series. I’m looking forward to finally understanding tone/value. Best wishes, Loma.
Hi Loma, thanks for popping in.
You know you’re right, it is a form of meditation. This very thought struck me yesterday after I realised I’d been drawing for two hours without a break and hadn’t noticed the time go by. I love that, the Dow of composition!
I’ve got some stuff coming on values very soon, some exercises designed to stretch our ability to judge value. I’m hoping to get it up on the site this week, but we’ll have to see how the time goes.
Drop me an email if you want to hear a bit more about the exercises.
Thanks so much for your site! I am typically a lurker, as with so many others, but would like to let you know how much your efforts are appreciated. What a breath of fresh air to read of someone else who is exploring the same ideas, who is similarly in love with creating visual art, and who is trying to find a balance between the demands of art and the demands of life. Sometimes I think that my husband finds my own interest in painting slightly strange (though still endearing, like an entertaining and harmless behavioral tic.)
Moving on, this comment struck me as interesting:
‘On colour though, I personally see it as a part of the whole, and think that perhaps the design in line is responsible for most of the fine balance of a composition.’
This interested me because I recently came to exactly the opposite conclusion. I went through a long period without any art making, but when I returned to it a year or two ago I began every painting by making a compositional line drawing. My designs never satisfied me. I became more and more aware of the importance of design the more I looked at others’ paintings, both amateurs and pros – design seemed to intensify the visual impact of a picture like nothing else. Since my approach wasn’t working well, I moved on from making a line drawing to making a value study before painting, a process that I still use now. I sketched the whole design (in pen and ink wash, as it happens) and played with the position of the borders of the image and the proportions of the major value masses in order to find a pleasing arrangement, then used a simple grid to transfer the outlines of the major forms to the canvas. I concentrated in particular on making the black and white design interesting, reasoning that if it didn’t work without the color, then it wouldn’t work with the color (not strictly always true in my art-viewing experience, but usually true.)
The effect was surprising. My paintings immediately improved. It changed the whole way that I thought about painting, even during the act of painting itself. Now I find myself looking for the compositional flow as I’m working, trying to see how it’s developing and asking myself whether or not it supports the pictorial mood that I’m trying to communicate. So you could say that I went from believing that line composition was essential to believing that value composition was the most essential element. Just another viewpoint from a fellow struggler. 🙂 [I’d be interested to receive an intuitive design critique of one of my images from someone who has more formal training in this area (even if self-administered), if you feel you have the time. Absolutely no pressure on this one, though, as I’m employed full-time myself and understand the demands involved.]
I’m also interested to continue following your Dow-related adventures. The color portion should be particularly interesting. I agreed with a fellow poster who commented that using color expressively was their goal. I’ve noticed that images which move me the most completely often depart from literal color in interesting ways in order to increase the emotional resonance of the image. It’s a skill that I’m trying to master, but I’ve only as yet scratched the surface. Maybe Dow has some recommended approaches which could guide my explorations.
Hello from the Northern US (Minnesota, land of a thousand lakes)!
Hi Koren,
I’m really glad you came out of lurk mode, and in such fine style too!
>exploring the same ideas
Great. That’s what this site is about, exploring and sharing. That’s why I’m so glad you’ve chimed in.
>in love with creating visual art
Yep, me too 🙂
> trying to find a balance between the demands of art and the demands of life.
Yes, definitely still struggling with that one. In fact I keep meaning to write a post about it, but there’s so little time to write! Is that ironic?
>my husband finds my own interest in painting slightly strange
I think even our nearest and dearest can never really get how much it means to us. They can’t get in inside our heads and feel what we feel, any more than we can theirs. Not completely. Don’t be too hard on him. As long as he’s not actually getting in your way at the easel you’re probably luckier than most!
Very interesting comment about the value composition being the most essential element in making a picture work.
I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with you. My own emphasis on line may very well come from the fact that line is what I’m working with now, and I’m discovering things about line design that I’ve never explored before. I may start agreeing with you when I get onto value design (which will be coming soon).
Also, I think it’s probably fair to say that which of the design elements are most important to us will depend on how we use them and how they fit with the kind of work we do. For Pre-Raphaelite painters for example, line seems to have been quite important as part of the design. For impressionists, much less so. What do you think?
>Just another viewpoint from a fellow struggler. 🙂
And one I appreciate you sharing with us. It’s what I hope for more than anything else here.
I’d be really happy to see what you’re working on Koren, please use the contact form or send me an email at the address at the bottom of the page.
I can’t promise that I’ll be able to give you any useful feedback, but I’ll certainly try. I should be starting to work more with value design soon, so perhaps we can compare notes again then.
The colour section comes last in the Dow book, I expect it to be some time before I get to it, possibly months, but I’ll certainly be writing abut it here when I do.
Download the book (linked in the post above) and you’ll see some of the exercises he proposes. I’m itching to get to it but want to work through the value stuff first.
Don’t forget to send me some pics, and please feel free to come out of lurk-mode here any time you like 🙂
Thanks
Paul