Good post! I think about this stuff a lot in my photography...
...which brings up a related point: actually stating what the principles of composition *are* quickly makes the conversation slip off the rails. Is composition a matter of geometry, plus selectivity, plus color weight and balance? For instance, the "rule of thirds": that rule drove (continues to drive) my view and arrangement of objects in the frame, after 50 years with a camera. But it's also apparently, well, *wrong*:
What makes one composition vs. another "good"? Is it just sort of a general touchy-feely sense -- "I like that!" When I first looked at the example you provided from The Book of the Dead, I thought, "Egad, all that stuff across the top is SUCH a distraction... and there's really too much going on in the bottom half, too!" Your point about how the attention of the figures at the bottom is focused on Maat is 100% spot-on -- it helps me to "understand" the work. But it still feels way too busy. So does this suggest that "the" principles of composition are simply a moving target, subject to change over time?
I think those are solid points. And there has to be a certain element of subjectivity to all this. I mean, I still don't understand why people like Rococo art, however technically excellent it is.
I also like when artists purposefully break the "rules" of composition, like Frederich's monk by the sea. It's part of what makes that painting so evocative: the awesomeness of the numinous is so overwhelming that the rules simply don't apply.
Maybe the rules are more like the Pirate Code a la Captain Barbossa, more guidelines than a hard and fast code.
Thanks for sharing the excellent thoughts! I'll probably incorporate them in part 2. Great insights.
"There's the Code to consider."
"The Code? You're pirates. Hang the Code, and hang the rules! They're more like guidelines anyway.
Good article. In my old age I have learned a valuable lesson that now drives my work. Just do art. I think your points about composition are good food for thought and what I was taught and attempted to do with my art over the years. Same with technique. But in the end, even though I still work hard on these things, I just do art. Bad art, good art and OK art. 🎨
Good post! I think about this stuff a lot in my photography...
...which brings up a related point: actually stating what the principles of composition *are* quickly makes the conversation slip off the rails. Is composition a matter of geometry, plus selectivity, plus color weight and balance? For instance, the "rule of thirds": that rule drove (continues to drive) my view and arrangement of objects in the frame, after 50 years with a camera. But it's also apparently, well, *wrong*:
https://www.neomodern.com/rot
What makes one composition vs. another "good"? Is it just sort of a general touchy-feely sense -- "I like that!" When I first looked at the example you provided from The Book of the Dead, I thought, "Egad, all that stuff across the top is SUCH a distraction... and there's really too much going on in the bottom half, too!" Your point about how the attention of the figures at the bottom is focused on Maat is 100% spot-on -- it helps me to "understand" the work. But it still feels way too busy. So does this suggest that "the" principles of composition are simply a moving target, subject to change over time?
Thanks for helping me think about all this!
I think those are solid points. And there has to be a certain element of subjectivity to all this. I mean, I still don't understand why people like Rococo art, however technically excellent it is.
I also like when artists purposefully break the "rules" of composition, like Frederich's monk by the sea. It's part of what makes that painting so evocative: the awesomeness of the numinous is so overwhelming that the rules simply don't apply.
Maybe the rules are more like the Pirate Code a la Captain Barbossa, more guidelines than a hard and fast code.
Thanks for sharing the excellent thoughts! I'll probably incorporate them in part 2. Great insights.
"There's the Code to consider."
"The Code? You're pirates. Hang the Code, and hang the rules! They're more like guidelines anyway.
Joshamee Gibbs and Elizabeth Swann
Good article. In my old age I have learned a valuable lesson that now drives my work. Just do art. I think your points about composition are good food for thought and what I was taught and attempted to do with my art over the years. Same with technique. But in the end, even though I still work hard on these things, I just do art. Bad art, good art and OK art. 🎨
Outstanding point!!! Thank you so much!
Very interesting read 😊