Composition Series Part 1. Rule of Thirds
Part 1 of 21 of my series on Composition
If you are shooting at a target with a bow and arrow, hitting the target dead center is the goal. If you are shooting via a camera, or painting that target, dead center is not where you want to target. Let's think "off-center".
What is the "Rule of Thirds"?
Draw a tic-tac-toe grid. Hey, you're an artist, you can go back to the basics and no, we are not solving quadratic equations in algebra - maybe. (I'm not talking about putting an X² in the center) When designing your artwork, by placing a tic-tac-toe grid over the artwork, you can find your best "rule of thirds".
There are a lot of rules of composition that you may or may not follow. I tend to think most artists WANT to break as many rules as possible, but maybe that's me... Anyway, this is one of the main rules used by cinematographers, photographers and artists (artamographer?) world-over.
The rule of thirds is a composition guideline in the visual arts to create a way to best position your subject(s) or object(s) - your key elements in the artwork. Centering everything does not make for the most engaging art. Distribute the visual interest and the balance by placing your elements along the intersection points to gain more interest in the work.
Divide an image into thirds using the tic-tac-toe grid which as you can see, divides the image into nine sections and four intersection points. Place your horizon at either the top horizontal line or the bottom horizontal line while positioning the subject(s) image at the intersection points. Your target is off-center which is considered much more pleasing to the eye. There is a better visual use of the negative space / subject and background.
The eye tends to view an image (of any type) from the upper left, then move down going to the bottom left. Then the eye sweeps to the upper right then drops to the bottom right, all very quickly.
What do you want the viewer of your art to notice first?
Many artists design their painting on their computers first then move the design onto their canvas. Working via computer would make easier work of moving the elements around 'on the grid' pre-painting. Do you consider this rule in your compositions?
These composition "rules" are the building blocks in the learning process for all artists and photographers. I think occasionally, even long-time artists need a refresher, a reminder, of the basics of art.
This is the first part of a series of blog posts on the guidelines, or rules of composition. I plan on posting them weekly going forward until I run out of rules. Look for all of them in the Search this Blog feature at the top right by searching for the word "composition". I hope you enjoy the posts!
Let me know in the Comment area below if you are a rule-breaker!
@2026 Donna Liguria. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited without permission
Author: Donna Liguria is the Blogmaster for Donna's Cave Paintings and an artist member of the Prince William Art Society (PWAS) in Woodbridge, VA. Donna specializes in acrylic paintings of landscapes, seascapes, historic locations, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com and her Donna's Esty site to shop her art.
*I LOVE reading your comments on my posts! Just remember that the blog comments are monitored so they may not appear right away.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Welcome to my Blog! If you wish to commission artwork, please send me your full name, your email, your phone, what you would like to have painted. What size you would like. I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thankyou for visiting.