Featured exemplar artists: Velázquez, Sargent, Rembrandt, Sorolla.
Best read after Seeing Value — edge handling rests on value judgment. Pair the reading with edge_variety_study to practice the four edge types deliberately.
The application of paint as a visual element — the painter's handwriting. Mark variety, paint quality, and the freshness of the surface.
The quality of the boundary between two shapes — hard, soft, lost, or found. Edge variety directs the eye and integrates form with ground. Edge control is what separates competent painting from masterful painting.
How light reveals form. The form principle — light, halftone, core shadow, reflected light, cast shadow — is the bridge between drawing and convincing three-dimensionality.
The lightness or darkness of tones, independent of color — the structural backbone of any painting that reads at a distance. Often called the single most important principle in painting.