Composition

Some examples and thoughts on the nature of art

http://www.ndoylefineart.com/index.html

Random thoughts about “rules”

An amateur artist is one who always succeeds; a professional artist is one who never succeeds.

The main quality of a work of art is in its expression, not its technique.

composition

Though many artists plan their compositions ahead of time, do preliminary studies, etc., much valuable experience can also come from finding the right composition while working on the painting….so revising as you go is a great thing too, allowing mistakes to happen so that creativity occurs.

Composition

• Artists learn to see objects in terms of their geometrical forms: cylinder, sphere or cone, and it is these forms and directional movements that the artist is arranging, not as 'table,' 'building,' 'flower,' or 'plate.'

Composition

• Composition consists of "perfecting" the inter-relationships of all these elements (lines, colors, shapes, composition, and space ), which become infinite

composition

The primary consideration for serious artists in composition is what they are trying to express - the meaning determines the structure, the composition.

The meaning is conveyed by the composition

Design guidelines

• Try to keep the viewer's eye from exiting the painting; with your arrangement of elements, learn to lead the eye around and through the image in an interesting fashion

• Generally, elements or forms should not be placed in the center of the picture surface, either vertically or horizontally, because this tends to divide the image in half

How do lines lead the eye around?

Design guidelines

• The design should be balanced, without being symmetrical

• The "weight" of elements in a work, such as shapes or forms, generally should be toward the lower part of the canvas

• Diagonals, especially in the lower part of the image, lead the viewer's eye into the space of the painting.

Visual weight at the bottom

Distribute weights through the work

But sometimes, symmetry works

Design Guidelines

• Often, an odd number of forms (as opposed to an even number) creates a more interesting, less symmetrical, arrangement (i.e., five objects instead of four).

• Generally, the "weight" of forms should be somewhat equitably distributed, as opposed to all being lumped into one area

An odd number of forms with some variation.

Note the horizontal is slightly below centre

the dog's face is the focal point (center of interest), because it is more clearly defined, and with the use of black eyes and nose, contrast is created against the light part of his head.

Curves in this pastel move in circles around and through the image (and background), bringing the viewer's eye always back into it.

Contrast the calm horizontal lines of the painting on the left to the movement and energy of the diagonal lines on the right

Now, let’s apply some of that theory to analysis…

The Golden Section

A compositional grid

That demonstrates

Satisfying proportions

Some composition variations