Just as a writer needs an outline, a painter needs a subject, idea, concept and a value plan before attempting a composition. In this landscape, I looked out my window and began to paint! Bad idea. I've run into problem after problem. This was the reason I've been trying to compose from memory. I want to have my idea, concept, subject and value plan in place before I start looking and copying things.
To learn to draw and paint you copy things. You learn to see. To compose a good painting you almost have to forget all of this or your right brain takes over and you start drawing and painting what you see or worse yet, what your left brain thinks you see.
When I copied the landscape by Joseph Alleman, I forgot to look deeply into it and analyze how it was done. I can copy a painting easily and think I've learned something and maybe the right side of my brain has but I have to make my left brain or my intellect come along! Tomorrow I'll go back and analyze the landscape I copied.
I think composition may be the skill of using both sides of the brain. You plan with the left side and paint with the right.
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