10. Canvas Shape 1: The Basics

One important aspect of art making is how artists choose the size and shape of their work. In 2D art, there are three basic options:

·  a portrait format rectangle (vertical)

·  a landscape format rectangle (horizontal)

·  a square

 

So, how does an artist choose? It's not so simple as saying all portraits have to be portrait format. There are exceptions:

Breakfast in Bed, by Mary Cassatt, 1897

Nor must all landscapes be horizontal:

A Sketch on the Huntington River, Vermont, by Sanford Gifford

The main question for an artist isn't what the subject is, but whether you want the viewer to look up-and-down, or side-to-side. That's what rectangles do. They help suggest how viewers should move their eyes.

What about squares? What do they do? Well, they're a bit more claustrophobic. :)

With nowhere to turn, you tend to look more at the center:

Daedalus Sorrow, by Pedro Inacio, 2008

And squares work really well with compositions where your eyes travel in a circle:

The Music Lesson, by William Merritt Chase

Notice both these people have flashy shoe colors to help complete a circular route for your eyes to travel back, from one face to another.

Those are the basics, but they're not your only options. Artists have used alternatives for centuries, primarily the tondo - a circular or oval shaped canvas.

The Alba Madonna, by Raffaello Sanzio

 

Notice how, although this tondo is circular, the composition is not. 

The three figures are seated in a triangular shape, with a strong diagonal balance between the faces on the upper left and the body in shadow to the right, with all the contrast and interest focused heavily to the faces on the left. Tondos generally have the same central emphasis and rigidity as a square canvas, which is probably why Raffaello scooted the figures ever so slightly to the left, to make the work a little less static and a lot more comfortable. And, a triangular route around the canvas functions in much the same way as a circular route, it helps your eye travel where it wants.

20th century artists have developed "shaped canvases", where the shape and design of the canvas is the main creative focus - blurring the line between painting and sculpture:

Title Unknown, by Charles Hinman

Title Unknown, by Frank Stella

Kyalami, by Frank Stella, 1981

Title Unknown, by Frank Stella

Sondra's Kitchen, by Chelsea Gibson, 2016

In all these works, the shapes of the canvas take a much more active role in forming the composition of the work. But the important thing to remember is that canvas shape is important to all compositions. One of the most common signs of a beginning artist is to buy standard sizes of canvas and sketchbooks, with no thought as to what shape best fits the subject or even where the finished artwork would hang, and what shape best compliments that space on the wall. A professional considers these things, where applicable.

So, then, what shapes should one choose? There's no one right answer, because you can focus on specific parts of any subject to compose it into any shape. Having said that, Landscapes tend to enjoy being rectangular, emphasizing the horizon line:

Seascapes tend to be even longer and narrower, emphasizing the wide open space:

Horses Bathing in the Sea, by Lucy Kemp-Welch

The Lagoon in Venice, by William Haseltine, 

Sunset at Gloucester, by Winslow Homer, 1880