Visual Composition

Composition is basically the way shapes come together in a piece. It’s the way in which the artist wants the viewer to see his work, it is usually something most people don’t actively think about too much, but it works without them really realising it. It’s all to do with the way the viewer’s eye travels across the piece and which elements they will focus on. Composition is just as important now as it was with all the great artists throughout history, the shapes but flow together, usually telling some sort of story. Bright, bold colours are used where the artist wants the viewer to look; red is used a lot for the main focus point because it is a strong colour which people tend to notice more. Less saturated colours are used in areas which aren’t of too much importance. There aren’t too many specific rules to composition because it depends entirely on what the image is, but here are some things which most artists take into account.

The priorities of the image are important, the key points where the viewer should look, the reason of the painting is to get across an idea, message or scene. So the important parts should draw the eye, lighting is very useful for this.

Value is used to show the distance, depth and lighting in a piece. It is very important to make the environment, character or vehicle look like it is in a 3D space. So paying attention to fog and atmosphere is important, as the further away something is from you, the more it looks less saturated and lighter. For environments, the type of weather makes a big difference in the way artists use value and volume, for instance a very rainy foggy day would have less visibility. So the background would be hard to see, the colours would not be as vibrant, edges won’t look as sharp etc. But a hot day with no clouds, would make everything look very crisp and clear, colours would be more saturated and you could see further in the distance. Blacks should be darker the closer they are to you and lighter the further away they get.

There are certain things which we are used to seeing every day in real life which we would notice when missing from a painting. Even people who don’t pay attention would be able to tell when looking at a piece if it is looks right or not. An important part to composition is making the painting look believable. So perspective is very important, when it is wrong, it is very easy to tell and instantly makes the work look worse. Having a good understanding of the way things work in the real world will make it easier for an artist to achieve something which the viewer will understand and recognise as being realistic.

Aside from making a piece look convincing, composition is used to create an interesting scene which explains everything the artists wants to show. Simple shapes with correct perspective and good use if value will make an image look instantly readable. The shapes should be as interesting as possible; this is why working with black and white thumbnails first is a good idea before starting the final piece. It allows you to experiment with different ideas using simple shapes, to create something which looks promising, without dedicating too much time. Then once you have a final idea you can work on having a correct perspective and adding detail. A bad composition will ruin a painting no matter how much detail it has, but a good composition with strong shapes and impressionistic brush strokes will create a working image earlier on. Composition is also important for setting the scale of a scene.