Composing a picture

Composing a picture and carrying in our tutorial in composing a picture

Composing a picture is quite difficult so you have to concentrate on shapes, in the picture below we have contrasting horizontals, verticals, rectangles and oval shapes. Sit back and relax and look at the composition and feel intuitively where your next shape, line or mark should go. Say to yourself, do my shapes look balanced and aesthetically related to each other and to the whole rectangular shape of the paper or canvas, try to feel your shapes intuitively. Feel where the shapes should go rather than consciously putting them in your picture.

<< Back

Light & shade >>

Colour theory >>

Line in portraiture >>

Texture in art >>

<< Home

Video excerpt

5 mins

Click for larger view.

Is there a variety of shapes in my picture, does one shape need to be a bit further away from the other or does it need an entirely different shape altogether, a rectangle, an oval or triangle etc. You need to end up with a composition which has a balance and one which has aesthetically related shapes that are all related to each other and are pleasing to the eye. When you are drawing a landscape always think that you are drawing or painting in shapes, relating a vertical tree to a rectangular house in a pleasing way and always keeping in mind to relate the shapes you are putting down. In the constable example on the left you can see that the two rectangles on the right of the picture are a little too large for the two rectangles on the left, this is because the photograph has been cropped, but in the original painting these shapes are aesthetically related to each other and to the whole in a pleasing and satisfying way.

You can see that the vertical tree trunk comes down into the reflection of the water and with the horizontal line or horizon line going across the picture both these shapes create rectangular shapes. The blustery curvy shapes in the sky area on the right echo the right edges of the large tree. There are lots of shapes in this landscape which make it an harmonious composition. So to sum up always think of the shapes you are putting down onto your paper or canvas, they must relate in a pleasing and aesthetic way. These are the basics of good composition in art and there are other things to consider of course but if you can learn these basics you will grow in your art and your composition will grow with you.

DVD
Composing
a picture
Composing a picture

You might like to purchase a 40 minute DVD (Approx) showing the artist painting a garden scene with Shape, Colour, Light & Shade, Line and Texture. Only - £12.95 - $22.00 Paypal will automatically convert to your currency. See more DVDs/CDs >>>