Leading the Eye and Dark Darks

At the risk of adopting a formula, while in Zwolle I started to try to compose my sketches by leading the eye with a wedge shape and anchoring with some dark darks.  It is also a deliberate effort to not fill the page in my on-going effort of deciding when to stop.


This is an illustration technique used for magazines and often text is fit in around it effectively.  I was remembering the work of George Butler, a British reportage artist, who I had the pleasure to meet at Carnet de Voyage in France several years ago, who does dramatic pen and ink illustrations.  Aside from my respect for his work, I am also fascinated with the assignments he has taken in conflict zones for organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières magazine.