Composition: The Structure of Art

Composition is the way we would ideally like to set up a piece to make it aesthetically pleasing; just as we stated before, take these as suggestions rather than strict rules to be followed. It's all about what kind of a story you're trying to tell, by where you direct the viewer's eye. Note that most of the illustrations are taken straight out of our sketchbook, so handle the images with care.

Types

The Rule of Threes is probably the one we hear about the most popularized types of compositions pieces, the "rule" is to separate your canvas into 9 equal sections and have your focus point sitting on one (or more) of the crossing sections. Clear plastic "sighters" are used by plein air artists for on-sight sketching, in which a clear piece of plastic is scored with said guidelines to aid in placing objects in scenery.

Bellow it is the set up of Dynamic Symmetry which is great when used in perspective pieces and needs a special focus. The two types are the Baroque diagonal and its opposite the Sinister diagonal, which are just mirror images of each other (it comes from the early ideas of left-handedness being associated with sin).

Below we see the suggested guidelines for the Fibonacci or Golden Spiral and The Golden Triangle with dynamic symmetry, respectively. Sighters of these can also be created, and used as a guideline for objects to be placed or perspectives to be created. If you have an appreciation for mathematical models, I highly recommend trying these out.

Below are more examples of different types of composition, including:

• Pyramid/ triangle - two edges leading to a focal point

• Cross - a heavy meeting of two lateral, perpendicular, but continuous thoughts

• Radiating line - a single focal point with multiple leading lines

• Rectangular - views that pull us into a corner of a piece

• Steel yard - increased concentration on one side of a work compared to the other

• Balanced scales - evenly distributed weight along the work

• Circular - expression takes us all around the canvas

• Compound curve - movement of a piece flowing along like a river

Happy composing,

Viktoria