3. The Principles of Composition 1: Gravity
Much of what you're about to read comes from the book Picture This - Basic Principles of Composition, by Molly Bang. I strongly recommend you read it, it's such a simple read, it's very direct, it's a very fast read, it works for all ages, and the illustrations explain her ideas so well. I've also added many tips and tricks described by James Gurney on his blog and Stapleton Kearns on his blog. And finally, I need to thank the many great artists at conceptart.org (a website now gone) whom I often quote.
As stated earlier, the elements of composition are like a tool kit. Principles of composition simply explain how people typically react to certain arrangements of the elements. Each principle relates to our shared personal experiences - what we know about the world. So, principles of composition can be sorted into our psychological responses to everyday features of reality: how we experience gravity, shapes, colors, the order of arrangements, and so on. Our associations with these elements are so strong, that we feel them even when used in a completely abstract image. The tricky thing about this is, it's very easy and intuitive to read through these principles and see them in the examples, and you think, this is so easy, why am I learning this? But actually using these principles in your own work is not intuitive. For most people it takes years of practice to incorporate all of these concepts into planning an artwork.
So, on to gravity:
1. The upper half of a picture represents the sky, and is a place of freedom. Anything placed up high becomes special. It's flying. So, it grabs our attention.
Departure-Arrival, by Rachel Constantine
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2. The lower half of a picture represents the ground, and is sadder, even if things are more stable. Lines and shapes feel immobile, stuck, and vulnerable. People on the ground can be attacked. People up on castle walls are safe.
If you're at the bottom of a war scene, you're probably dead.
3. Horizontal lines & shapes are stable and calm, because they're lying down. They're at rest.
This is true regardless if a work is realistic or abstract:
Please note, however that context is key. An image of a person at rest can still be uncomfortable and disconcerting, based on the story presented:
Untitled: Man on the Beach, Chicago, by Vivian Maier, 1956
What's going on in this image? If it's just a man relaxing at the beach, why isn't he dressed for it? And why is he alone? Is he homeless? Did he sleep there all night? Is he drunk? Is he still alive? These kinds of questions can make a haunting image, despite the horizontal lines.
4. People typically read a picture as having a horizon line, even when you don't draw it - when it's hidden behind things, whether indoors or out. We see it because of perspective. This painting, by Francois Baranger, has a horizon line:
You can find it by first finding the vanishing point:
And then, you know the horizon line sits on this point:
5. When a work is non-representational, with no indication of a horizon:
viewers will use the real world horizon to ground themselves:
This line could be anywhere on the artwork. It depends on how high it's hung on the wall, and how tall you are. But, you'll always feel there being a horizon line somewhere in a picture because of your sense of balance (equilibrioception), coming from your inner ear.
6. When you slant your horizon line, you create tension, unease, and confusion.
Your viewers know they have two feet planted on the ground, yet, to understand the picture, they must imagine themselves not firmly standing on the ground. One might be flying in a helicopter, or lying on the ground,
or holding onto the side of a cliff:
These are all artworks that place the viewer into the scene, participating in the action - at least a little. This trick is commonly used in films, where it's called a Dutch angle - actually a corruption of the word 'Deutsch', because this trick comes from Germany, from the Expressionist film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari:
7. Vertical lines & shapes are strong and impressive - they're standing up.
8. A horizontal line placed on top of vertical lines looks majestic - both strong and stable, like a Greek temple.
photo by Mike Fitzpatrick
9. Square & Rectangular frames also suggest strength - the horizontal lines above and below, and the vertical lines of the sides. This is true regardless if the frame is ornate:
or simple:
Every frame is a temple.
10. Diagonal lines and shapes suggest motion,
Nike Man, by Mateja Petkovic
tension,
and falling.
This is true, even if the work is completely abstract:
11. Two diagonal lines leaning together can form a stable triangle, but only if they're equal.
They also point up to the heavens, making the top half more special.
12. But, if one of these diagonal lines is greater than the other, it becomes unstable, with one side dominating.
13. Shapes placed on diagonals seem to float in space,
unless attached to a baseline.
This is also true for abstract shapes:
14. Circles (and circular frames) also seem to float in space,
unless attached to a baseline, in which case they seem to want to roll.
15. All these principles work together, in the context of the picture. Their effects are cumulative - the effects of all principles are cumulative, they work together...
16. ...But they're all still subservient to the context. Meaning, if the only way for the viewer to make sense of an image is to ignore all these little visual cues and line directions - that's what he'll do.
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