A Brush with Wildlife: Create a Composition with Carl Rungius

Welcome to the Composition Studio!

I'm Tucker Smith, a painter from Wyoming. Like Carl Rungius, I paint the wildlife and landscapes of the West.

Composition is essential to a successful work of art. It is also one of the hardest things for an artist to master—maybe harder than drawing or color. I'll be your guide as we explore some of the basics. We'll see how Carl Rungius organized his works. Then you can try your hand at composition with an arrangement of your own.


Tucker Smith, The Refuge, 1994. Oil on canvas	Enlarge
I made this painting. It's as large as two picture windows and shows the National Elk Refuge—the view that museum visitors see from the front patio. This was a tricky composition!