1. Composition
Lecturer: Mark Parkin

2. A & O Aims; to explore the methods of composition
Objectives; Define and investigate the various aspects of composition, balance, symmetrical & asymmetrical compositions including the golden ratio.

3. Composition
Composition relative to visual arts is the arrangement of elements or ingredients seperate & distinct from the subject. It is the organisation of elements used in accordance to the principles of art.

4. Composition
Balance is one of the easier fundamentals and you'll soon discover whether your natural inclination is towards a perfectly balanced or symmetrical composition or an unbalanced, asymmetrical one.
Balance impacts on the overall feeling of the finished painting. Symmetrical tends to feel calmer and asymmetrical is livelier & creates tension within the picture plane.
Symmetrical Balance Creates Harmony

5. Proportion, Scale & Balance
Composition
Proportion, Scale & Balance
Proportion and scale help give a piece of art balance. Balance can be symmetrical (formal balance) or asymmetrical (informal balance). Proportion and scale are key to our perception of balance.
Symmetrical balance arranges objects or elements so they are evenly weighted on the picture plane, such as your nose in the centre of your eyes.
Asymmetrical balance means that objects are placed to one side or another. If painting a portrait you might draw a person slightly off-centre and have them look toward the middle. This weights the image to the side and offers visual interest.

6. Composition
Balance
The Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo Da Vinci illustrates the role of balance in a painting, because while it is mostly a balanced composition, the positioning of the figure is slightly off-centre or off-balance.
The face in a portrait is typically the focal point. It is positioned straight on, and there's balance created as we're seeing equal amounts of the face on either side of the nose.
Symmetrical Balance Creates Harmony

7. Composition
Balance
If you draw a line down the centre of the face, you'll notice it's not positioned in the centre of the canvas, slightly to the left.
The balance is undermined somewhat, though without careful looking it's hard to put your finger on exactly why.
But the composition results in the face protruding out of the painting towards the viewer, giving it more impact.
Symmetrical Balance Creates Harmony

8. Composition
Balance
If we look at the background, analyzing the dominant colours it forms horizontal bands, which is shown in red on the photo.
The varying widths of these bands add visual interest to the composition, it's a change of rhythm.
A subtle effect of the diminishing width of the bands towards the top reinforces the effect of perspective on the background.
Symmetrical Balance Creates Harmony

9. Composition
Balance
Look at the bands in terms of the negative space around the head. How large is each, and is it equal on either side of the figure?
The negative space around her shoulders reveals there's more on the left-hand side than the right. What at first glance appears to be balanced, which it isn't not totally.
Symmetrical Balance Creates Harmony

10. Composition
Balance
The marked red lines indicate strong diagonal lines. There are three on the figure, starting with the hands and forearms, where the lighter tones of the skin and the highlights on the fabric stand out against the darks of her dress.
Above this the lines formed by the top edge of her garment, and then above this the lines where the light tone on her chin meets the dark shadows underneath it.
Symmetrical Balance Creates Harmony

11. Composition
Balance
There are strong lines and shapes, repetitions and echoes using dark & light tonal values as well as light and shadow.
There are three sets of lines that intersect, one is aligned with her nose which is positioned off-centre.
The other two lines are aligned to the right of the centre of her face but in fact closer to the centre of the canvas.
This not-quite-symmetrical balance adds a subtle uneasiness to the composition, giving it a mysterious quality.

12. Composition Balance Two forms of balance: Horizontal bands
To pull the eye upwards with perspective.
Diagonal bands
To draw the eye back down and to the centre.
Together keep the eye focused on the elements that make up the paintings composition.

13. Composition
Balance
Another layer of balance is in the lights and darks of the background, which also create diagonals that lead our eye into the distance.
In contrast the background components of the composition situated in the far distance on the left is at an angle, whereas on the right they're horizontal.
Plato’s rule
Video-1

14. Composition
Balance

15. Composition
Balance
Another layer of balance is in the lights and darks of the background, which create diagonals that lead our eye into the distance. Notice how the components of the composition of far distance on the left is at an angle, whereas on the right they're horizontal.
Layers of Balance in a Painting

16. Composition Negative Space
What is negative space in painting composition?
Negative space is the space between objects or parts of an object, or around it. Studying this can have a surprisingly positive effect on a painting.

17. Composition Negative Space
What is the purpose of negative space in painting composition?
Too often when we paint something, we stop observing and start painting from memory. Instead of painting what is in front of us, we paint what we know and remember about the subject.

18. Composition Negative Space
What is the purpose of negative space in painting composition?
Often by working from the negative spaces rather than focusing on the object, you end up with a much more accurate painting.
Observing the image, you immediately recognize that it's an angle-poise lamp, but notice that nothing of the lamp itself has been painted, only the shapes or negative space around it.
Use Negative Space to Turn the Familiar into Something New

19. Composition Negative Space
What's the Difference Between Negative Space and a Silhouette?
Silhouette
Negative space
When you're making a silhouette, you're concentrating on the shape of the object not the surrounding space. Negative space requires you to concentrate on the space around the object rather than the object itself.

20. Open & Closed Negative Space
Composition
Open & Closed Negative Space
Open negative is where you have negative space around four sides of a subject. No part of the subject touches the edge of the canvas or paper. There is "empty" space all around it.
Closed negative space is where the subject stretches across the composition to touch the edge. Part of the subject closes off a part of the negative space, turning it into a smaller shape.

21. Composition Negative Space Closed negative shapes
The negative space in this painting is closed, not open. There two strong shapes on the left and right of the figure. The painting is "Schokko With Wide Brimmed Hat" by the German Expressionist painter Alexej von Jawlensky.

22. Composition Negative Space Positive space Closed Negative space
Using Negative Space for Abstractions
Negative space is also a great starting point for an abstraction, as it takes you a step away from 'reality'.

23. Composition Negative Space Negative Space Drawing Negative space
Form created by
negative space
The correct approach to negative space drawing involves observing the shapes formed between different parts of the object, or between one edge of the object
and a boundary. By drawing the background spaces or shapes between the edge
of the object and the opposing edge or boundary, the positive form of the object
is left un-drawn, resulting in a correct negative space drawing.

24. Composition Negative Space
Incorrect approach to Negative Space Drawing
Open negative space
Positive space
or silhouette
An incorrect approach to negative space focuses on the form of the object while drawing. In negative space drawing, instead of observing the positive shape of an object, you draw the shape of the space around the object. This may include any background detail or pattern.

25. Composition Golden Ratio What Is the Golden Ratio?
The Golden Ratio is a term used to describe how elements within a piece of art can be placed in the most aesthetically pleasing way. It is an actual ratio and it can be found in many famous works of art. It is also referred to as the Golden Section, Golden Proportion, Golden Mean, phi ratio, Sacred Cut, or Divine Proportion. It is one in the same.

26. Composition Golden Ratio What Is the Golden Ratio?
Rectangles & squares are the clearest examples, but the Golden Ratio can be applied to any number of geometric forms including circles, triangles, pyramids, prisms, and polygons. It's just a question of applying the correct mathematics.

27. Composition Golden Ratio What Is the Golden Ratio?
infinity
Phi is represented by the lower-case Greek letter φ. Its numeric equivalent is which means its decimal stretches to infinity and never repeats (much like pi).

28. Composition Golden Ratio What Is the Golden Ratio?
If we look at a rectangle with a width of 1, and a length of If you were to draw a line in this plane so that one square and one rectangle resulted, the square's sides would have the ratio of 1:1.
The "leftover" rectangle would be exactly proportionate to the original rectangle: 1: You could then draw another line in this smaller rectangle, again leaving a 1:1 square and a 1: rectangle. The ratio continues on in a downward pattern regardless.

29. Composition Golden Ratio
While working for the Sforzas in Milan, Fra Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli (1446/7–1517) said, "Like God, the Divine Proportion is always similar to itself."  Pacioli who taught Florentine artist Leonardo Da Vinci how to mathematically calculate proportions. Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" is often given as one of the best examples of the Golden Ratio in art.

30. Michelangelo's "The Creation of Adam" in the Sistine Chapel.
Composition
Golden Ratio
Michelangelo's "The Creation of Adam" in the Sistine Chapel.

31. Composition Golden Ratio Video….2
Georges Seurat (Sunday on la Grande 1884)
Edward Burne-Jones (The Golden Stairs 1880)
Video….2

32. Composition
Golden Ratio

33. Understanding proportion in Art
Composition
Understanding proportion in Art
Vitruvian Man
Leonardo Da Vinci ca.1490
Study of hands
Leonardo Da Vinci
Proportion and scale are principles of art that describe the size, location, or amount of one element in relation to another. They have a great deal to do with the overall harmony of an individual piece and our perception of the art.

34. Proportion & Scale in Art
Composition
Proportion & Scale in Art
Scale is used in art to describe the size of one object in relation to another, each object is often referred to as a whole.
Proportion has a very similar definition but tends to refer to the relative size of parts within a whole. In this case, the whole can be a single object like a person's face or the entire artwork as in a landscape.

35. Proportion & Scale in Art
Composition
Proportion & Scale in Art
Scale and proportion helps the viewer make sense of the artwork. If something appears abnormal then it can be disturbing because it's unfamiliar. Francis Bacon stated, "There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion."

36. Proportion & Scale in Art
Composition
Proportion & Scale in Art
Some artists purposely distort proportions to give the work a certain feel or to relay a message. The photomontage work of Dada artist Hannah Höch is a great example. Much of her work is a commentary on issues and she blatantly plays with scale and proportion to emphasize her point.

37. Composition Scale & Perspective
Proportion and scale & perspective help give a piece of art balance.
Scale affects our perception of perspective as well. A painting feels
three-dimensional if objects are correctly scaled against one another
in relation to the viewpoint.

38. Composition Scale & Perspective
The scale between a mountain in the distance and a tree in the foreground should reflect the perspective of the viewer. The tree is not, in reality, as big as the mountain, it's closer to the viewer therefore it appears much larger. If the tree and mountain were there realistic sizes, the painting would lack depth, which is one thing that makes great landscapes. .

39. Composition Scale & Perspective The Scale of Art Itself
There is also something to be said about the scale (or size) of an entire piece of art. When speaking of scale in this sense, we naturally use our body as the reference point. An object that can fit in our hands but includes delicate, intricate carvings can have as much of an impact as a painting that's 8-foot tall.
Our perception is shaped by how large or small something is compared to ourselves. For this reason, we tend to marvel more at works that are at the extreme of either range. It's also why many pieces of art fall within a certain range of 1 to 4 feet. These sizes are comfortable for us, they neither overwhelm our space nor get lost in it.

40. Composition Scale & Perspective Excercise:
Create a series of drawings & paintings either abstract, figurative, still life or landscape. The format should be a minimum size of 60 x 50 cm utilising positive & negative space (open & closed negative space), scale & perspective.