Either side of the border

This Ed Degas painting here is an excellent piece to study to see the effects of hard and soft ("lost" and "found") edges. The black shape that Degas has merged right into the ballet master's body there in the middle foreground? What is it? Those are the scrolls at the the top of two cellos or double bass viols! Where do those scrolls end and where does the ballet master's body begin? Well, there you are! The picture engages me too.

Advice from Donna A: "Look for the various PLANES on the different parts of the subject. Notice where the LIGHT is "strong" and where SHADOWS are "strong". Pay attention to the HARD, MEDIUM, and SOFT edges. // Look for the WARMS AND COOLS within any given HUE. // Don't let things get picky/fussy --- but instead look for making or keeping INTERESTING VARIATIONS. Pay attention to not only what is happening within any of the objects but also look at what is happening on EITHER SIDE OF THE BORDER everywhere within the painting. // --- and then just keep looking at the painting over all and what it needs to make it striking."

(The Rehearsal of the Ballet Onstage, Ed Degas (c. 1874) in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art NYC)

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BONUS Word-of-the-Day: Entropy, n. from the Greek εντροπία "a turning towards" (εν- "in" + τροπή "a turning") a thermodynamic quantity representing the amount of energy in a system that is no longer available for doing mechanical work; "entropy increases as matter and energy in the universe degrade to an ultimate state of inert uniformity". Wake up in the morning = inert uniformity. Gaak.