CREATING A MASTERPIECE

This photo was taken after a Chanel fashion show. It was not a spontaneous photo. It took hours to orchestrate, so that it would look spontaneous and uncontrived. The photo is, in fact, a takeoff on a world-famous painting that you have very likely seen. Do you know the painting or the name of the artist?

The artist definitely knew the secret of successful composition in order to please the eye - and tell a story. He is, of course, Leonardo DaVinci and the painting is the famed The Last Supper.

Did you notice that the models were wearing wool hats with bathing suits? And that only one model is looking at the camera, while yet another model pulls away from the group. Other models form odd groups of two or three. Furthermore, the models are not lined up at all by height, presenting a choppy rather than a straight line.

I use my background in art to create “living masterpieces” and this photo serves to illustrate the correlation between the rules of art and the rules of image. Present a portrait or a person without mastering the rules, and you will not present a masterpiece. At first glance, the Chanel bathing suits look a bit unusual, but the trademark French beret assures us that it is simply French haute couture, perhaps a little avant garde, but not to worry. Ah, the power of accessories.

Super model Kate Moss looks straight at the camera and strikes a sassy pose, establishing that she is the focal point of the portrait. There can be only one focal point in a painting – and the same is true with people. With a person, the face must always be the focal point, and something is wrong if the eyes are riveted to the feet or dangly earrings.

For artists, composition and color are tools that help tell a story without words. Such were the skills of DaVinci that The Last Supper is moving drama and nearly seems to speak. One assumes that it is Judas who pulls away from the group, and that the other disciples are easily identified because they are depicted in groups, just as they were in life. Ever aware of “line” and composition, DaVinci arranged the subjects in such a manner that they created a pleasing, curved line. Straight lines, after all, are rigid.

Look closer and you will see that Kate Moss is not placed dead center, as this would look contrived. Your image is also a message without words, and it is a message that is deciphered in two seconds. If you look like you are so perfect that you look contrived, I have failed in my job as an image consultant. My clients report that after an image workshop, friends and associates tell them they look great but can’t say exactly what, if anything, has changed. The overall impact is sufficient, and details escape our attention. But it is the meticulous attention to detail that produces a masterpiece.