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Page Contents: Composition Balance Proportion Repetition Dominance Harmony Contrast Unity Variety |
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 Guidelines to Composition and Design
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| The way that an artwork is composed or assembled. | |
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COMPOSITION is about the way an artist composes or
combines the
elements of the work to give clarity and order to their ideas.
Composition is about the
way our eyes are guided around the artwork.
COMPOSITION is involved with UNITY, how the elements
of the artwork go together COMPOSITION is involved with and governed by the principles of design. Composition is about VISUAL ORGANISATION |
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BALANCE involves the distribution of elements in a work of art.
BALANCE is the control of the elements in attracting
attention. This
attention must be evenly or unevenly spread over the area to make sure
interest in kept up, all the way through the art work, without being
static or chaotic
BALANCE can be symmetrical or asymmetrical
BALANCE can create movement, tension or calmness BALANCE of the pictorial elements can act like a see-saw or lever.
The
elements can be balanced around a VERTICAL, HORIZONTAL or DIAGONAL AXIS
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PROPORTION involves the relationship between sizes
PROPORTION is about realistic relationship or ratio.
As an illustration, the ideal human proportion is eight heads
high and the shoulders are two heads wide PROPORTION is familiar to us all so artists can use the warping or normal proportions to suggest emotions or affect the status of a subject.
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REPETITION is the use of similar or connected
pictorial elements. For
example, similar shapes, colours or lines that are used more than
once
REPETITION can be regular or irregular and even or
uneven REPETITION can be in the form of RADIATION where the repeated elements spread out from a central point. REPETITION may be in the form of GRADATION where the repeated elements slowly become smaller or larger.
RHYTHM is about the rate the eye moves throughout
the work of art. This
is usually because the eye moves, jumps or slides from one
similar element to another in a way similar to music. |
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DOMINANCE is about the focus given to a part of a work of art. DOMINANCE helps to create UNITY as the eye is attracted to a key point then led around the image by pictorial elements.
DOMINANCE can be created by contrasting pictorial
elements such as line, shape, tone, texture, direction, size or
colour
DOMINANCE and BALANCE work together to bring out
UNITY |
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HARMONY means pictorial elements of the same type
that “go” together.
HARMONY can be made where the eye is used to seeing
objects together, so they form a group eg. flower pot and plants
HARMONY can create feelings, similar elements can
seem calm and pleasing eg. Blues and greens |
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CONTRAST means pictorial elements that stand out because they are not alike eg. squares and circles and triangles. Red, yellow and blue contrast as they are so dissimilar.
CONTRAST can be made by putting objects together
that do not normally “go” together CONTRAST gives variety and makes the elements more lively. |
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UNITY is the sense of ONENESS, of things belonging together and making up a coherent whole. Artists do this by repeating elements, overlapping shapes and directing the eye of the viewer around the work from one similar element to the next or along a line or shape The eye is directed by the principles of design and composition so that the artwork has UNITY. The main function or job of the principles is to organise the elements into a unified artwork. |
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VARIETY gives an artwork interest and vitality, as the elements are repeated with enough change or difference to enhance each other. VARIETY, contrast and harmony work together to give unity. Too much VARIETY leads to confusion and disunity. Too little leads to boredom.
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