The Composition

What is composition? Composition is the placement of objects onto a canvas or piece of paper. This would also refer to photography. Placement is always the most important part of an artwork. It will decide if the artwork is of value. Correct composition enables the viewer to look at the artwork and remain on the page or the canvas. The eye is free to wander around and look at the parts and the entire artwork without wandering off an edge.

Because composition is the most important part of an artwork, this is where we should spend a great deal of time composing our picture. Composition is not something that an artist can repair after working on a piece for three or four weeks. The composition must be set at the beginning. In the case of drawing and painting, where the artist is able to spend a lot of time developing the artwork, an artist would do well to spend a couple of hours simply setting up the composition.

Many beginners often place their subject matter directly in the middle of their page or canvas. This makes the surrounding negative space of equal value and, in art, quite boring. An object placed off to the side is much more appealing and more interesting to look at than something stuck dead center. In the case of portraying one object, the cast shadow becomes part of the composition, pushing the object out of center and thereby making the surrounding negative spaces more interesting.

We all have learned to stick everything into the middle of the page. This is all necessary for good writing skills - equal margins on either side, top and bottom. It was drilled into us over long periods of time so most of us have forgotten how to place objects on a page. Children have a perfect sense of composition. If they are working in crayon and are drawing a house, the house may be placed in the middle of the page but there will be a tree on one side and perhaps some flowers on the other side of the house. Or there might be a tree on one side and a swing set on the other. They do not balance the spaces equally. That is something learned.

Symmetry works great in an office situation, but it is deadly for art. We all have a sense of composition but many of us have forgotten that. How does the artwork feel? Is your eye led off the page? Does your eye only travel to one thing? Are you able to look at the whole work but enjoy the pieces as well? Does the artwork feel like it should be moved over a quarter of an inch? Because we do have an innate sense of composition, it is good to ask ourselves how we feel about the piece and then trust our answer.