# Composition



## M. LeRenard (Jan 3, 2010)

And how to make a picture interesting.
Basically, what I want to know are some basics on composition of a picture; angles, colors, expression, motion, all those sorts of things.  I've been drawing for a long time, and I've gotten fairly good at it, but I've never been much of an 'artist', if you know what I mean.  I can draw a picture that looks like what it's supposed to, but I have a really tough time making things look interesting, eye-catching.
For example: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2069510/
One of my better works, but it's just a character floating in white space.  The only reason it got as many views as it did is because people are apparently fascinated by stippling.
Recent attempt at making something interesting: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3119894
Again, it's just a character sitting there.  I tried to make the colors a bit more exciting, but I'm still not entirely satisfied.
All my artwork seems to be missing _something_, and I think it has to do with how things are laid out on the page and a lack of motion.  So can someone give me some tips on improving this aspect of my work?
Or feel free to point out anything else you find wrong with it.  But I'm mainly looking for a discussion on making art artistic.


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## Kangamutt (Jan 3, 2010)

One of the best ways to make for an interesting composition is for things to be on slanted angles. Angles depict dynamics and action, the sense that it's in motion. Motion will always attract attention. Also think about the shapes that are created by your main objects in relation to the shape of your media (which will almost always be square or rectangular). If it's something like a concentric set of squares, it looks still and boring. Offsetting in relation to the centre creates a sense of uneveness that will also attract attention. And as well, be mindful of your use of colours. A good knowledge of the colour theory can help in using colours that conflict in a pleasing manner helps, as well as add a sense of weight. Your tree frog work makes for a good example of both of these. The orange sky and green figure and ground are a nice colour combination that offset each other as well. Plus the distribution of weight; the orange is lighter in colour, and therefore, creates a lighter sense of weight, while the green appears heavier, and with it off centre on the horizontal axis, make the bottom area feel weighed down and grounds it nicely. But, with the galaxy factored in to the top part, it evens out this offset weight and makes it all look like one weight creating that flat on its back stability rather than the feeling that the bottom edge is the heaviest.

I'm probably going into a little too much detail about it, but I hope it helps.


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## M. LeRenard (Jan 3, 2010)

So it's sort of like photography in that respect?  I was also told that to take exciting photographs, you need to try weird angles and offsetting and things.  I guess it makes sense that that would attract attention; anything out of place is more likely noticed.
Thanks for this.  I'd love to hear more.  And yeah, break out the artist jargon if you feel you need to.  I never went to art school, and I only took some bullshit art courses in high school, so I could stand to learn a few things.


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## Kangamutt (Jan 3, 2010)

M. Le Renard said:


> So it's sort of like photography in that respect?  I was also told that to take exciting photographs, you need to try weird angles and offsetting and things.  I guess it makes sense that that would attract attention; anything out of place is more likely noticed.
> Thanks for this.  I'd love to hear more.  And yeah, break out the artist jargon if you feel you need to.  I never went to art school, and I only took some bullshit art courses in high school, so I could stand to learn a few things.



Exactly. Photography composition works the same as other forms of traditional/digital media put on a (typically) square/rectangular 2-dimensional plane in a way that both catches and pleases the eye.


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## TheStory (Jan 4, 2010)

Rule number one DO NOT CENTER YOUR FOCAL POINT unless you have done it purposefully for a dominant in your face image, and over using it will bore your audience to death. You want to use something called the rule of thirds (or the golden rule/ratio by some). If you don't know what that is here is a quick article on it. http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds

Also for a good composition you need to lead the viewers eye. Either with the subject matter or lines, or color. You need to find a focal point (you can have more than one) and use everything in your image to help the audience focus on that.


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## M. LeRenard (Jan 6, 2010)

The rule of thirds isn't something I've heard of before, though I can see in a vague way why it makes sense.  That's a handy rule of thumb to keep in mind, so thanks.
I do have a question, though.


> Also for a good composition you need to lead the viewers eye. Either with the subject matter or lines, or color.


Could you show me a couple of examples of what you mean by this?  I'm not sure I entirely follow.


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## Aden (Jan 6, 2010)

M. Le Renard said:


> So it's sort of like photography in that respect?  I was also told that to take exciting photographs, you need to try weird angles and offsetting and things.



No, not necessarily. Composition is about directing the eye over the piece. Something as simple as the rule of thirds (mentioned above, I think) will help focus the eye to a point on the image. The reason it works so well is that once the eye is done exploring that point, there is a whole other two thirds of image to feast upon. It makes it more satisfying to look at, in a way. So, composition is about directing the eye, and there are several techniques with which you can do so - amount of detail, color, saturation, value, focus/blur, etc. Don't necessarily need a camera tilt or crazy angle to do this.

Mostly the best advice I can give is do what feels interesting. It sounds wishy-washy, I know, but there's sort of a composition sense you'll acquire over time.


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## M. LeRenard (Jan 6, 2010)

Aden said:


> Mostly the best advice I can give is do what feels interesting. It sounds wishy-washy, I know, but there's sort of a composition sense you'll acquire over time.


That's not a particularly satisfying answer, mainly because I've been drawing since I was a little kid, and I still haven't acquired one.  It's a family trait, really; an aunt of mine, for example, is a fantastic artist--one of those who makes a painting look more like a photograph--but is still best at doing just flat portraits.  Of course, her excuse is that she gained most of her skill from doing medical diagrams (of organs and things), which are supposed to be flat but detailed, so I don't know what my excuse is.
Anyway, that's why I'm asking for advice.  Can you guys show some examples of what you mean by 'directing the eye'?  I'm not really getting it 100% through the description of the process.


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## Aden (Jan 6, 2010)

M. Le Renard said:


> That's not a particularly satisfying answer, mainly because I've been drawing since I was a little kid, and I still haven't acquired one



It also helps to take photographs and do drawings that aren't just single subjects - try some abstracts, for example.



> Can you guys show some examples of what you mean by 'directing the eye'?  I'm not really getting it 100% through the description of the process.



Well, let's take one of my favorite pieces on FA as an example. As soon as we look at it, the eye settles on the main subjects for a moment. Their coloring pops up from the rest of the scene, and they're also one of the most detailed things in the piece. The subjects are composed using the rule of thirds in the horizontal direction. This makes the piece more interesting as opposed to if they were just hogging up the center. It also allows for a greater development of the background. After exploring that, we might move to the background because of the bright light source and high contrast there, or down the tree stump and down the flowing water because of the strong directionality of the lines. You'll also notice that these areas are also pretty detailed. Speaking of detail, you should also notice the areas of the painting that don't have a lot of it - the dark background forest off to the sides, for example. These are just unimportant places and we don't need to burden the viewer with more than they need.

Naturally you can go on and on about something like this, but that should give you the idea.


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## D-Bit (Jan 14, 2010)

Here's a good idea. This is something I do at times. I'm so not an expert but
I'm trying to get better myself. (My line art sketches have better comp then my 
colored ones.) 

Go to: www.istockphoto.com
-or-
Go to: www.gettyimages.com

These are photo mill sites. Search down photos that might have a similar 
lay out as the pic you have in concept. Then you can see how it is done 
with real subject matter in photos. Then you can take that into your art
in one way or another.

P.S. - I've found that gettyimages have better artistry then istock. But both
are useful. ^^


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## KashakuTatsu (Jan 15, 2010)

I have always favoured the direction technique. I like to put the line of action of the subject direct the eye around the image in abnormal ways. Like instead of the Z directional technique (where the direction of the image goes in a Z pattern), I will use a spiral or circular shape. 

Another thing I like to do is add interesting little things into the background that show a sense of humour (well mine at least hehe) that are there if the person really looks at the image but might not be seen upon first glance. 

Also putting frames and have a part of the image break the frame can make the image more interesting. Ex: http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu151/KashakuTatsu/Theft.jpg or http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3219161/


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## Zydala (Jan 15, 2010)

- Rule of Thirds (as mentioned above :3)
- Shape composition! (also sort of mentioned above... have different focal points create sort of a "lead around" in the shape of a triangle, or an s-shape :>)
- Line variation! Give things in the foreground that are center of attention thicker lines than items in the back
- Rule of Greyscale! (okay not really a 'rule'...) Basically, the main focal points should have an off-set from the background in contrast, etc. What I mean by that is, if you turn your colored picture into greyscale, the main focal point should be darker/lighter than the background. Does that makes sense? D:

Hope this helps..!!


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## M. LeRenard (Jan 18, 2010)

Cool cool.
Thanks for the tips, fellows.  I guess the next step is to try to implement them in my next painting.  This is more an exercise in psychology than art, isn't it?  Kind of funny.


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## Zydala (Jan 18, 2010)

M. Le Renard said:


> This is more an exercise in psychology than art, isn't it?  Kind of funny.



Yes! There is sort of a "science" to art, in some cases :3 there's reasons why things look good to us/ look off to us and it has a lot to do with creating illusions for the eye. Pretty neat :>


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