Creative Discoveries In Art and Spirit

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Title: How I Make Composition Simple.

 

Table of Contents:

 

1. Composition De-Mystified

2. Book: The Painters Geometry – A Study of Composition in Art by C. Bouleau

3. You Tube Ian Roberts

 

I hope you enjoy this issue, if you have any comments or questions please feel free to add them at the bottom. Welcome and enjoy!

To view the Composition De-Mystfied video please go to:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-rfOHgjj38&t=27s

 

 

1.0 Composition De-Mystified

 

For balance: In this newsletter, I have included details of the book The Painters Geometry, this book is the complete opposite of what I suggest and what I practically do and write here. The book is very detailed and to some extent complex. I do have, and have read this book myself, in my opinion, it is worth having and reading. I cannot be certain how much knowledge influences my thinking and the way I practically compose a painting as with all information gained, at a subconscious level it must have some bearing on our actions.

 

With that said, I am a practical person and like things to be simple and uncomplicated so here is my basic method and process for most artworks. If this still sounds complicated email me and we can chat. Thanks.

 

Step 1 Decide what is inside and what is outside the painting border.

When painting outdoors I look for a suitable scene using a viewing window. I have made several with a simple piece of stiff card. If you decide to make some yourself you want to choose the aperture ratio in line with the size board you usually paint on. Eg a 20”x16” panel is a 1:1.25 ratio, (20 Divided by 16), you can then make a window with an aperture of say 50mm wide x 40mm high (50/40=1.25). You can embellish the window by stapling a clear perspex cover over the card and drawing crosshairs on the perspex with

an indelible fine-line pen.

 

For the quick inexpensive fix you can buy the view catcher from most art suppliers.

 

This design has a sliding window allowing various aspect ratios to be captured. In addition, the small hole in the center of the grey window enables you to view and isolate colors for accurate color mixing.

 

 

Step 2 When viewing a scene to paint outdoors remember you can move things to suit your final compositional design and where desired

leave things out. When working indoors you can work from photos that can be cropped on your tablet or pc, and or make simple sketches.

 

The compositional design in its most simple form wants to follow just a few simple rules.

 

 

 a) Never place the horizon line or the strongest horizontal element on the center line of the painting. Note: this may be affected by the location of the main focal point.

 

b) Use the rule of thirds to place the focal point. This does not have to be absolute to the last millimeter, use your subjective intuition.

If it feels right to you it is right. You are the artist and creator.

The rule of thirds keeps things simple. If you approximately divide the width and height of your painting surface into three you create four possible intersections where the lines cross, your main focal point wants to be approximately aligned with one of these locations.

 

c) Consider a path(s) where the viewer's eye enters the painting and traverses to the focal point. The paths can be lines and or shapes. Check that there are no strong paths taking the viewer's eye out of the painting.

 

In the painting, Lyme Bay below you will notice there are a number of strong lines and shapes that take the viewer's eye to the bottom right. I have added the suggestion of a sailboat and some people for interest. On the landscape there is the ‘S’ Shape (Serpentine) with strong diagonals bringing the eye down, this is combined with the ‘V’ shape of the sea area making for a strong composition. The large tree on the right stops the viewers eye from going of the picture. Notice that the focal point is approximately aligned with the rule of thirds.

 

That is about it except for one last thing.

d) Allow your intuition to have a say, go by what you feel.

 

When you look at technical books like The Painters Geometry remember they are mostly written years after artworks were created. Often by academics analysing and guessing what the artist may have thought. Most of the time we do not know how the artist planned his or her work or what they were thinking and feeling during the creation process. So be free to break the rules when your gut guides you. A healthy mix of knowledge and intuition is most likely best.

 

 

 

2.0 Book: The Painters Geometry – A Study of Composition in Art by C. Bouleau

 

In the artistic chaos of these last years, when the absolute liberation of the individual instinct has brought it to the point of frenzy, an attempt to identify the harmonic disciplines that have secretly, in every period, served as foundations for painting might well seem folly. But this Folly is in fact wisdom. It is the way to a kind of knowledge essential for whoever wants to paint. Essential too, for whoever wants to look at pictures. The framework of a work of art is also its most secret and its deepest Poetry. From the Preface by Jacques Villon.

 

This richly illustrated examination of visual arts in the European tradition shows how the great masters employed the "golden mean" and other geometrical patterns to compose their paintings. Author Charles Bouleau explores a tremendous variety of ancient and modern works: the Parthenon friezes, Italian mosaics, the Bayeux Tapestry, and Gothic stonemasons' marks of France and Germany as well as paintings by Picasso, Kandinsky, Klee, and Pollock. His insightful expositions cast new light on such well-known works as Raphael's "The School of Athens," Botticelli's "Birth of Venus," Rubens' "Descent from the Cross," and Renoir's "Le Moulin de la Galette."Advancing step by step through each painter's vast body of work, the survey highlights new contributions from each period and artist. Every analysis is conducted according to strict methods, placing the work within the intellectual atmosphere of its time. Original, informative, and stimulating, The Painter's Secret Geometry reveals the framework of art as well as its most profound and secret poetry. This new edition of the cult classic is a vade mecum for any student of art history or artistic composition. From Back Cover.

 

3.0 Ian Roberts – Mastering Composition

 

Ian boils what can be a complicated subject down into practical steps that anyone can understand and follow. I highly recommend his You Tube videos. He also has a great book on the subject too.

PS: I am not sponsored by Robert in any way. So please enjoy his guidance.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQxtRk0gmSc

 

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