Before I begin, I should say that the following information is by no means complete. It is merely my attempt to address one issue that I believe many artists contend with: namely, composition.
When dealing with composition in painting, particularly informal composition where elements from left to right or top to bottom vary significantly, it is important to keep in mind that the entire image and not just the focus of the image has to be taken into account. Also, certain types of composition convey certain ideas. An image that has lots of diagonals conveys dynamism. A triangular composition conveys strength and resolve. A circular composition is often used to convey the idea of unity and wholeness. If you wanted to illustrate, say, a princess holding her infant son with a dragon emblem behind them, one way you could approach it would be to compose the image as a circle within a circle, with the mother and child at the center and the emblem swirling around them. Below is an abbreviated list of composition types and the emotion/theme they best convey:
| Horizontal | Peace, Quiet, Aftermath, Death |
| Diagonal | Action, Opposition, Energy |
| Circular | Love, Unity, Perfection, Completeness |
| Vertical | Hope, Fear, Growth, Rise and Descent |
| Triangle | Strength, Assimilation, Power |
| Square | Balance, Order, Resolve |
To give you an example, I will use my painting “Skull Mountain” to explain how composition in your work can heighten and enhance the theme or themes you want to convey. My initial idea was to create an image in the spirit of Frazetta, which conveyed a sense of victory in the face of impending doom.
I did a rough sketch showing the protagonist facing off against a trio of undead baddies. I wanted to give the impression that the hero was strong in the face of opposition, so I combined the elements of a diagonal and triangular composition. The stance of the hero and overall shape of the cliff edge create a sense of stability and endurance. You can trace an invisible line from the head of the skeleton at left to the dagger of the sneaky bad guy on the right. This diagonal line adds a sense of urgency and struggle. I thought I had the composition that I wanted, so I moved on to the next step.
However, after enlarging this basic composition, I realized that the poses seemed awkward and that, more importantly, the scene wasn’t dynamic enough. I realized very quickly that the hero’s sword was a wasted element in the picture and that his pose wasn’t supporting the flow of his movement. After adjusting his legs, I realized that the diagonal I had nurtured before was weakened and subsequently reversed the flow from the lower left to the upper right. To further support this new diagonal, I lowered the skeleton on the left and added a cliff wall whose sloping edge further reinforces the diagonal.
In the finished image, all the elements work together to create a sense of excitement with the hero establishing himself as “king of the mountain.” In addition to lines of composition, perspective, color, lighting, and a host of other elements add up to create art that will communicate your message successfully.
For more information on creating dynamic composition, be sure to check out J.P. Targete’s excellent article in the Technique section of Epilogue.net.
Article by Leo Winstead.
