Basic Composition

  This entry was originally posted on Friday, February 3, 2012.

Composition is an important part of painting.

It will make or break a painting.
It seems to be a struggle with most artists.
However, there is one simple rule that seems to help with composition.
It is the Golden Ratio.
The Ancient Greeks determined that the Golden Ratio is the ideal ratio for aesthetics.


It is basically the idea that everything should be broken into thirds in order to be aesthetically pleasing.

This rule of thirds is a quick and easy solution to the composition dilemma.
To start, divide your paper into thirds both horizontally and vertically.
It should look something like this:

Where the lines meet, that is where you want your center of focus to be.

Somewhere in one of these four spots.

There are other rules of composition that will help make a painting more dynamic.
And like all rules, they can be broken and the painting will still work.
Before you can do that though, you do need to start at the beginning.
This golden ratio is a good beginning.