composition

Composition, something that I probably do not think about enough especially when it comes to visual design therefore I think its wise I start thinking about it more often when drawing and digital painting as it is something that can make or break the overall look and feel of a piece of work but when used well it can improve a piece or sketch and add to its visual appeal. Composition is all about using certain ways of arranging elements in an image to make the overall layout and look aesthetically pleasing and also can be used to draw the viewer’s eye to certain areas of the image more than others.

this is an example of one rules in composition called the golden ratio, in simple terms you can see the two boxes at the centre of the spiral, basically they are doubled each time, the result when each corner of the squares are drawn to create a spiral which is the way the eye moves around the image therefore you would  usually put the focal point of the image at the centre of the spiral.

 

There are many different aspects and rules to consider in composition, after looking around for a definitive amount it was hard as some sources include more than others but the main ones I kept stumbling across were;

Line, Shape, Colour, Texture, Form, Value  and Space.

if you were to elaborate on the forst list it would include Shape and roportion,Positioning/Orientation/Balance/Harmony, Negative space, Colour, Contrast, Geometry, golden ratio spiral, Lines, Rhythm, Lighting, Repetition, Perspective

when using different styles of drawing and media not all the aspects may needed to thought about such as when doing quick sketches with a fineliner for example colour will not need to thought about however contrast and tonal value may be. something like perspective though is always noticeable not matter what you drawing and is probably one of the most important things when drawing as wrong persective can really ruin the feel of an image.

Bad Pespective.

in the image above the vanishing points either side of the building are too close together, whilst the person who drew it has the right idea the vanishing points needed to be alot farther apart.

Good Perspective

 as you can see the building doesn't looked warped and unusual as the perspective it correct, i think its the most noticeable mistake you can recognise when looking at your work or others.

 

repetition of shape is also a good compositional method to use in peices as shown here.

 

 

 

 

whilst looking for some examples of bad composition i came across i good basic look at compositon on another blog with some basic but very helpful info.

 



 

 

 

these few bits of information still help me greatly and now when i compose an image i can use these methods to help my images become more interesting.

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_(visual_arts)

http://www.artofraz.com/free-art-tutorials/art-composition-tutorial/

beginners guide to digital painting-book

http://sevencamels.blogspot.co.uk/2006/03/10-minute-art-school-composition-101.html

http://sevencamels.blogspot.co.uk/2006/03/5-minute-art-school-composition-102.html