Principles of Composition - Gravity
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Much of what you're about to read comes from the book PictureThis - Basic Principles of Composition, by Molly Bang. I strongly recommend you read it, as the illustrations explain her ideas far better than I can here. I've also added many tips and tricks described by James Gurney on his blog. And finally, I need to thank the many great artists at conceptart.org whom I often quote:
So, having said all that, here are some principles tothink about:
If you're at the bottom of a war scene, you're probably dead.
As stated earlier, the elements of composition are like tools. Principles of composition are simply good ways to use these tools. The simplest way to explain it is that each principle relates to your own personal experience - what you already know about the world. So, principles of composition can be listed under these categories:
Gravity
Psychology of Shapes
Psychology of Order
Psychology of Colour
Emphasis & Movement
Mood
Unity
For each of these concepts there are many principles which can be used as tricks to better your composition - to make your designs more effective. But, I have to emphasize, the key to composition isn't in the tricks. To quote artist Chris Bennett:
"There has not been, as yet, a book written that promotes understanding of what is unique about and peculiar to the vocabulary and grammar of painting. The formulas and 'tips' contained in these volumes are generally providing codes for replicating ways of building images. It's a situation rather like someone learning the guitar by memorising chord shapes in sequence to play their favourite songs without having any idea about the grammar of harmony. It sounds like they know their instrument, but only if they are asked to play their party pieces.
So, for example, in a book about landscape composition, all we are getting is a couple of generalised pointers about how to make one's efforts 'balance' by superimposing a vague template crudely sifted from some successful pictures of the past. 'Knowledge' used in this fashion is in fact a prison. Understanding the engine behind these codes is what enables you to speak as an artist. Unfortunately, I know of no book that addresses this comprehensively. You have to find it by asking yourself some tough questions about what on earth it is you are doing, what it is for and why you are not trying to do it in any other, more expedient, way."
In other words, you should learn these principles, and all the tricks, but don't just copy them. Little visual tricks won't make your artwork great, merely more effective. It's the same in literature. People still read Shakespeare for the stories, not to appreciate the fine grammar. With art, it gets a little confusing with masters being praised for all the little tricks they knew. But, every professional artist will tell you,
the main idea of the work is the key to its success.
James Gurney says you have to feel something first - there has to be some emotion tied to the idea, if it's going to work. Kev Ferrera says:
"...unity of expression is the key to composition. Unity of expression is what marries technique, style, detail, composition, drama, character, content, and subtext under one banner of thought. And the key to unity of expression is the controlling idea... the governing theme that predicates or determines the technique, style, detail, composition, drama, character, content and subtext. The question is then, what do good controlling ideas look like? And how do I come up with them? This the million dollar question..."
So, having said all that, here are some principles tothink about:
GRAVITY
All the elements of composition are governed what we know about gravity.
1. The upper half of a picture represents the sky, and is a place of freedom. Anything placed up high becomes special. It's flying. So, it grabs our attention.
Departure-Arrival, by Rachel Constantine
Beginnings, by Julie Dillon
2. The lower half of a picture represents the ground, and is sadder, even if things are more stable. Lines and shapes feel immobile, stuck, and vulnerable. People on the ground can be attacked. People up on castle walls are safe.
28th Regiment at Quatre Bras, by Lady Butler
If you're at the bottom of a war scene, you're probably dead.
3. Horizontal lines & shapes are stable and calm, because they're lying down. They're at rest.
Solace, by Candice Bohannon
4. People typically read a picture as having a horizon line, even when you don't draw it - when it's hidden behind things, whether indoors or out. We see it because of perspective:
5. When a work is non-representational, with no indication of a horizon, viewers will use the real world horizon to ground themselves.
6. When you slant your horizon line, you create tension, unease, and confusion.
Your viewers know they have two feet planted on the ground, yet, to understand the picture, they must imagine themselves notfirmly standing on the ground. One might be flying in a helicopter, or lying on the ground,
or holding onto the side of a cliff. These are all artworks that place the viewer into the scene, participating in the action - at least a little. This trick is commonly used in films, where it's called a Dutch angle - actually a corruption of the word 'Deutsch', because this trick comes from Germany, from the film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
Hydro Ship, by John Berkey
Your viewers know they have two feet planted on the ground, yet, to understand the picture, they must imagine themselves notfirmly standing on the ground. One might be flying in a helicopter, or lying on the ground,
All Played Out, by Mark Goodson
or holding onto the side of a cliff. These are all artworks that place the viewer into the scene, participating in the action - at least a little. This trick is commonly used in films, where it's called a Dutch angle - actually a corruption of the word 'Deutsch', because this trick comes from Germany, from the film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
7. Vertical lines & shapes are strong and impressive - they're standing up.
Relative Innocence, by Rose Frantzen
8. A horizontal line placed on top of vertical lines looks majestic - both strong and stable, like a Greek temple.
A replica of the Parthenon, in Nashville, TN
photo by Mike Fitzpatrick
9. Square & Rectangular frames also suggest gravity - the horizontal lines above and below, and the vertical lines of the sides.
At the Gate of the Temple, by John William Godward
Every frame is a temple.
10. Diagonal lines and shapes suggest motion,
tension,
and falling.
Nike Man, by Mateja Petkovic
tension,
Fisher Girl of Picardy, by Elizabeth Nourse
and falling.
Mighty Avengers Cover, by Marko Djurdjevic
11. Two diagonal lines leaning together can form a stable triangle, but only if they're equal.
They also point up to the heavens, making the top half more special.
The Road West, by Dorothea Lange
They also point up to the heavens, making the top half more special.
12. But, if one of these diagonal lines is greater than the other, it becomes unstable.
13. Shapes placed on diagonals seem to float in space,
unless attached to a baseline.
The Breeze, by Mary Fairchild Low
unless attached to a baseline.
14. Circles (and circular frames) also seem to float in space,
unless attached to a baseline, in which case they seem to want to roll.
Cosmic Traveler, by Julie Dillon
unless attached to a baseline, in which case they seem to want to roll.
15. All these principles work together, in the context of the picture. Their effects are cumulative - the effects of all principles are cumulative...
16. ...But they're all still subservient to the context.