Exercise: Diego on My Mind

Kahlo, Frida. Diego on My Mind (Self-Portrait as Tehuana). 1943, Gelman Foundation Collection, Mexico City.

Exercise

Without writing, look at the painting by Kahlo. Note where your eyes go first, and then how they move around the painting. Think about what makes your eyes move that way – what has the artist done to guide your eye?

Now take a pen and paper. Describe how each of the following principles works to guide your eyes. Try to write prose (standard full grammatical sentences, organized in paragraphs) rather than bullet points. Draw connections between each of the “principles” to show how they work with each other to create their effects, as well as how they work on their own.

The principles:

• Balance
• Stress
• Leveling
• Sharpening
• Lower-left Preference
• Attraction and Grouping
• Positive and Negative