Composition in Art

composition is perhaps one of the most important aspects of our creation yet it's also one of those things that's often overlooked even if we get our proportions correct we have a full range of value and we've used the medium as a master if our compositions are weak then our artwork probably is as well thankfully composition is one of those things that we can get right with a little bit of knowledge and planning it doesn't require talent and it definitely doesn't require guesswork there are a few rules that we can keep in mind so that our compositions are strong every top [Music] [Applause] hello everyone Matt here with the virtual instructor comm and in this lesson we're gonna discuss composition clearly there's much more to art making other than just mark making right we need to consider composition as well or the structure of the artwork that we create before we dive in to composition a little bit further in terms of art let's consider an analogy if you're a musician then you know that every song has a structure a musical composer plans out the structure to the song and each musician that place the song has a specific part to play if a musician plays the wrong part or plays the wrong notes then the song becomes a real mess the same things true for a piece of art as artists we need to structure and compose the pieces of art that we create so we'll start at a discussion of composition by taking a look at focal points a focal point is the area or areas within the pitcher play that command the viewers attention while we can have more than one focal point we usually need to limit the focal points one focal point is pretty easy to pull off to is a little bit more difficult any more than three is going to be really hard to pull off as an artist so in most cases we want to ensure that we have at least one focal point within the pitcher plane and maybe one or two supporting focal points as well now we can create focal points within a scene using five different techniques the first technique is through contrast contrast deals with difference and this can be any type of difference it can be textural difference it can be color difference and it can be value difference the list goes on and on but any type of contrast is going to command attention from the viewer let's take a look at this image in this image we can see that the green tomato is the focal point the reason why it's the focal point is because of contrast the green contrast the red around it in fact red and green are complementary colors it provides a hot level of contrast thus commanding our attention and creating a focal point another way that we can create a focal point within the scene is through isolation now if you ever got in trouble as a kid and we're put in the corner I don't think they do that anymore then you know what isolation is all about when you were put in the corner if you were then all the other kids in the classroom stared at you you are isolated from the rest of the class and therefore demanded a lot of attention we can do the same thing in our artworks by isolating certain elements let's take a look at this image here we can see that the coin that's by itself closer to the viewer is the focal point our eyes are naturally drawn to this coin because it's isolated from the rest of the coins behind it this is an excellent way of creating of spoke a point in your compositions another way that we can create focal points in our compositions is through the placement on the paper naturally we're drawn towards the center of specific shapes if we take a look at this example by a van Gogh we can see that he's placed the subject directly in the center of the picture plane more specifically the eyes of the subject directly on the naturally this becomes the focal point within the scene now while we can create a strong focal point by placing the subject directly in the center of the pitcher plane it's not always best to do so when we do so we typically end up with a static composition we can make the composition a little bit more dynamic by just placing the subject slightly off-center or better yet along one of the thirds of the pitcher plane but more on that in just a moment another way that we can create a focal point is through convergence now convergence deals with the use of actual lines and shapes or implied lines and shapes that help to direct a viewers eye to a specific location we can take a look at how convergence works in this image in this image you'll you're likely drawn to the small figure close to the center of the picture plane you're drawn to this location because of converging lines that exist there in this case these converging lines still with one-point perspective and these lines are helping to pull the viewers eye to that specific location therefore the small figure within the pitcher plane becomes the focal point another way that we can create a focal point is through the use of the unusual anything that's unexpected or out of place of course is going to command our attention and also the our viewers attention to a specific location within the pitcher plane let's take a look at this image here we can see that the person who has the bug head clearly is unusual and because of this were naturally drawn to that location therefore even though we have several different people standing in line the person with the bug head is commanding the attention and thus becomes the focal point now although creating a strong focal point is incredibly important in creating a strong composition it's not the only factor we should consider next let's take a look at the principles of design and see how they influence our compositions the principles of design deal with how the elements of art are arranged in a work of art the elements of art of course are the basic building blocks for our creation generally there are eight accepted principles of design they are balance proportion movement rhythm harmony unity emphasis in variety some art specialists also include contrast is one of the principles of art but since contrast can create emphasis most people decide to leave it off the list not all of the principles of art affect our compositions but most of them do let's take a closer look at how the principles of design affect our compositions will start with balance in terms of art balance refers to the overall distribution of visual weight within a composition each element or subject that we include in our compositions carries with it a visual weight if we include one subject on one side of the picture plane will likely need to counteract that visual weight with either negative space or another element that carries with it it's on the visual weight therefore we can create visually balanced compositions we can compare visual balance to a teeter-totter or a sea salt imagine we have one large object or a person on one side of the seesaw the seesaw won't be balanced but if we had a couple of medium-sized objects or people to the other side of the seesaw we achieve an equilibrium the seesaw is now balanced if a work of art is not balanced visually it may feel heavy for example if we include too many visual elements close to the bottom of the picture plane it will pull the viewers eye to that location and the overall composition may feel unsettling take a look at this image in this case we have several visual subjects at the bottom of the pitcher plane at this point it feels very heavy but if we counteract this visual weight with an element or two at the top of the composition and it becomes more balanced we should also be aware of how our images are cropped as this can also create added visual weight for example if we place objects too close to the edge of the pitcher it can pull a viewers eye and create unwanted attention if we take a look at this image notice how the bird is positioned too close to the edge of the pitcher play the edge of the branch at the top is also too close to the left side of the picture plane in this image now there is enough space provided on both sides of the pitcher plane to provide a bit of balance resulting in a more successful composition the next principle to consider is movement now in terms of art movement can refer to actual physical movement as in the case where we might have a person running in a scene but it can also refer to the way a viewers eye moves through the piece of art that we've created in most cases we are drawn into artworks and guided to the focal point or the area of most important and then supporting elements within the scene guide our eye throughout the piece of artwork we want to engage our viewer so we need to encourage them to move through the piece in a specific way and a lot of times this is referred to as a movement depending on the subject the order in which someone may move through a piece of artwork may look like this first the viewer is droned into the work then the viewer is guided to the focal point or focal points then the viewer is guided to supporting elements then the viewer has got it out of the work or back to the focal point this visual movement within the composition is usually achieved using contrast guiding lines diagonals or overlapping objects take a look at this painting by willard NetCast take note of how your eyes move through the work perhaps your eyes followed a similar route as mod I entered the work at the bottom of the valley near the stream I was guided by the line of darker trees to the center of the pictorial space then back into the forest on the Left I then followed the line of trees across just in front of the distant mountains from there I was guided back to the center the positioning of these elements allowed me to engage in the artwork I was able to move through the piece and enjoy each one of the individual sections of the artwork without becoming overwhelmed with visual information we can do the same thing in our artworks when we plan our compositions we can consider how a viewers eye may move through peace and of course we don't have complete control over how viewers will interact with our art but we can have some influence the next principle to consider is rhythm we understand rhythm through repetition take for example the beat of a song we hear the beat and we understand its rhythm because it repeats usually in a predictable way the same is true for a piece of art we create visual rhythm in a piece of art through repetition repetition helps to unify a piece of artwork and it creates that rhythm that can lead to a strong composition let's take a look at this famous painting by Van Gogh notice how it has a sense of rhythm this rhythm is created through repetition we can see here how the shapes created for the blades of the flowers are repeated throughout the composition and also the shapes for the smaller flowers in the upper left-hand corner and then the shapes created for the irises are no different they also repeat a repeating element or subject within a piece of artwork is often referred to as a motif so if we include motif in our artworks it helps to create that visual rhythm by including visual rhythm we also create a bit of harmony and unity which leads us to our next principles to consider harmony and unity our compositions should clearly be harmonious and unified now harmony and unity are very similar to each other but they're slightly different unity deals with a feeling of oneness in a piece of artwork if we want to create unity in our artwork than we should use the medium in a consistent manner and bring it to a level of completeness so that the artwork feels complete it's also important to consider artistic style if we use a specific style and one location of the painting or drawing we should continue this style throughout this leads to a feeling of unity and a piece of artwork harmony more so deals with the individual parts of a piece of artwork and how they work together we can consider harmony and unity in terms of a family let's consider a family in the traditional sense here for this analogy a family is made up of different members a family may have a father a mother a son and each family member is different and is their own unique person but the family is still a unit some families get along well with each other how others don't let's take a look at a composition that is harmonious and unified in this case we'll take a look at an example by Robert Harris this work is unified and harmonious for a number of reasons the most obvious way is through its use of color Harris has simplified the color scheme and used mostly the complementary colors of red and green the green is very earthy but it's still there this is an example of creating harmony and unity through simplification in fact there are several ways that we can create harmony and unity in our compositions we can create harmony and unity in our compositions by using the medium in a consistent manner throughout the artwork simplifying shapes subjects or color schemes using a consistent style throughout the artwork making sure the work appears finished ensuring that each individual part of the piece works and makes sense with the other parts now let's discuss our next principle of design emphasis we typically use emphasis to create focal points within the scene and we've already discussed several methods for creating focal points you'll notice that each one of these methods or most of them rely on some form of contrast to pull a viewers eye to those locations let's take a look at this work by dega most of us are drawn to the woman in the scene more specifically to her face they God has pulled our attention to her using several different methods for starters she's centrally located within the pitcher play there's also strong value contrasts around her notice how the man next to her is dressed in black while she wears white there's even a dark shadow cast on the wall right next to her light face then there's the lines of convergence created by the tables in the back edge of the bench you also notice that the face of the woman has more details compared to the other elements within the scene this also helps to pull a viewers eye to that location the next principle to consider is variety like emphasis variety deals with contrast or difference and we should include some variety in our artworks take for example your favorite food now imagine what life would be like if you had to eat your favorite food for every meal for the rest of your life breakfast lunch and dinner and nothing else you're having your favourite food the first day it may be great but on the second day you might start to grow tired of your favorite food and over time you probably start to hate it we should approach our art works in the same way we shouldn't bore our viewers with the same thing over and over again throughout the art work we need to mix things up a little bit and have some variety the key here is combining variety and harmony in a masterful way if we have too much variety then we might end up with a piece of artwork that's not harmonious if you have too much harmony we might end up with a piece of our work that has or is lacking variety let's take a look at an example where the artist has balanced variety and harmony in this work Kandinsky has created variety by using a broad range of color but kept the painting unified through simplification now believe it or not there's more to consider when it comes to composition outside of the design principles in creating strong focal points there's a few other factors we should consider next we'll discuss positive and negative space space is one of the seven elements of art and most of the times when we discuss space we're discussing depth or the illusion of depth in a drawing or painting when we're discussing composition however we can consider space in a slightly different way we can consider the positive and negative space within the picture plane now a positive space generally refers to the areas within the scene where we have subjects or elements of importance negative space on the other hand are the areas or locations that surround these areas of importance or the elements within the scene positive doesn't necessarily mean good and negative doesn't necessarily mean bad in this situation now let's take a look at an example here we can see a photograph of an orchid on a plain white background now let's isolate the positive and negative space so we can better understand its relationship within the composition if we isolate the negative space seen here highlighted by red we can see that the negative space takes up the space around the orchid and in between the individual parts of the organ now if we isolate the positive space we can see that the positive space in this image is taken up by the entire orchid the stem and even the pot positive and negative space work to frame the composition we can have a composition that's made up of mostly positive space an equal amount of positive and negative space or mostly negative space in this example we can see that we've taken our subject and broken it down into a composition made up of mostly positive space and here's an example of a composition made of equal parts of positive and negative space and here's one made of mostly negative space each one of these compositions is derived from the same subject and each one of these compositions could be considered successful now finding a good balance between positive and negative space in your compositions will depend on a variety of factors including the level of detail and the subject that you're including the material that you use the way that you're handling the material and other visual factors but the key to finding success with the balance between positive and negative space all relies on your planning which leads us to the next aspect of creating strong compositions planning planning is perhaps the most important aspect to finding success for their compositions unfortunately planning is the step that most people skip completely take for example you're going on a road trip to a place you've never been before you wouldn't just pack your bags hop in the car and take off you most likely would do some form of planning you might look in a map or you might enter the address and your navigation Center system either way you're doing some sort of planning we need to approach our drawings and paintings in the same way we need to have some idea of where we're going with the artworks that we create before we start creating them most times we create small sketches ahead of Thom these small sketches are usually referred to as thumbnails now thumbnails are loose and quick they're not meant to be finished pieces of artwork they're just meant to help you figure out all the compositional puzzles before you actually go to your artwork that way when you're in your artwork and you're creating your drawing or painting you've already decided on all the design elements of course you can change your mind along the way but at least you have a really good idea of what you're trying to accomplish with the artwork that you create and when we approach them they'll sketch and we should do so with an attitude of experimentation we should be open to any ideas that might enter our brains and quickly sketch them down a lot of times we often think that our first idea is the best but oftentimes if we allow our mind to think creatively and we're open to experimentation in different possibilities we may find that best idea on our fifth or sixth or even tenth attempt at creating a thumbnail sketch so the next time you create a piece of artwork make sure you do some planning sketch out your composition before you start into it and more than likely you'll create a stronger composition than you would have without any planning at all the rule of thirds is another compositional strategy that we can take with our artworks now the rule of thirds is based on a mathematical theory called the golden mean or the golden principle the golden mean and golden principle is rather complex so most artists and photographers simply refer to the rule of thirds when they're laying out specific subjects within a scene the way the rule of thirds works is basically we take our pitcher plane and divide it into thirds both horizontally and vertically we have intersection points that happen along these thirds these intersecting points are great places to put focal points they often lead to a more aesthetically successful composition we can also even place subjects directly on these lines of thirds you'll see this used lots of times in different movies and films and even photographs in fact if you take a look at the video you're watching right now you'll notice that I'm laid out in one of the thirds within the pitcher plane let's take a look at this work notice how the artist has positioned the figure which is the focal point almost directly on one of these points now the compositions we create can be either static or dynamic static compositions are fairly straightforward and direct static compositions make sense for images like illustrations for example a scientific illustration where the intent is to basically show the viewer some information in most cases however we want to create more dynamic compositions since those tend to be more interesting there are several ways that we can create more dynamic compositions but one way that's used by artists over and over again is by including diagonals in the artwork in this work by Frederick Remington we can see the repeating diagonals throughout the artwork and is how it makes the artwork more engaging and more interesting more importantly more dynamic so you look for interesting ways to incorporate diagonals in your composition for example instead of showing a subject from a straight-on view maybe you consider showing that same subject from a bird's eye view or perhaps a worm's eye view this will create more interesting angles and give you the opportunity to include more diag and also your compositions and when we compose our artworks we should also consider the number of elements or subjects that we include the human mind funds balance and odd numbers more specifically than number three this means that including three objects is the optimal number of objects to include to find balance and create a more successful composition this doesn't mean that you have to use three objects by any means you're welcome to use more or less it just means that if you're using more than three it's better to use five than four and it's better to use seventh and six for whatever reason if we have two objects within the scene it tends to make a sort of competition between the two objects and it's hard for our minds to determine which one of the two objects is the focal point for example if we look at this image that features two spheres it's hard to determine which one of the two spheres is the most important and therefore it demands our attention however when we add a third the other two subjects act to frame the third resulting in a more balanced composition so what have we learned here well we've learned that composition is not about guesswork it certainly has nothing to do with luck and it's definitely not about Talent composition is about understanding how your viewers will interact with what you create it's the result of careful planning and it also sometimes involves some experimentation now we've covered a lot here and it can be a bit overwhelming but the more that you practice these concepts and incorporate them into your own compositions the more they'll become intuitive to you and your compositions will improve over time if you enjoyed this video then I know you'll love being a member at the virtual instructor comm our members have access to all of our drawing and painting courses on a variety of subjects and techniques each one of our video modules includes a downloadable Illustrated ebook goes along with the video we also have weekly live lessons all of these lessons are streamed for an hour each week on a variety of subjects and mediums and they're recorded and stored in our library or vault of recorded live lessons from the past so the program just continues to grow week by week there's also the weekly critiques which are part of the members minute where you can learn by analyzing the artworks of others there's a year-long lesson plan for visual arts teachers that includes lesson plans video resources handouts and much much more there's just so much involved in our unique membership program so if you're interested in learning how to take your drawings and paintings to another level I suggest you check out the program everybody starts with the trial so you can go in and check everything out for risk free thank you so much for watching this video and I wish you all the best in your artistic success [Music] you

Channel: Drawing & Painting - The Virtual Instructor

Views: 235,771

Keywords: compositon in art, drawing composition, painting composition, how to create a composition, drawing lesson, painting lesson, principles of art, the rule of thirds, positive and negative space

Id: oAPXep8wPts

Length: 24min 58sec (1498 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 08 2018