composition

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Viewfinders

How to make a Viewfinder

As we begin to think about composition, you will need to make a tool called a 'viewfinder'. This document below shows you how to make your two "L" shapes which you will need to create your viewfinder. Further down on this webpage you will learn about WHY and HOW we use these tools!

You will need

  1. Cardboard: cardboard from a cut open cereal box is a good size and the perfect thickness for easy cutting

  2. scissors


How to Make a viewfinder

Setting a Proportional Viewfinder

Before you begin this section, be sure you have made your two 'L' shapes explained in 'How to make a viewfinder' above.

This sequence of videos walks you through the steps. You'll want the following materials when you are ready to make your own viewfinder:

  1. Your two cardboard 'L' shapes

  2. scissors

  3. tape

  4. 2 small pieces of think string / dental floss

  5. A piece of regular drawing paper like what you plan to use for your art assignments

Compositional Techniques

Here are some things to consider when thinking about composition (illustrated in diagram below):

Overlapping:
Remember that it adds interest to a composition, and help creates a sense of space, by placing something in front of something else.

Cropping:
When some part of your object goes out of the frame, this is called cropping. Even a cast shadow can be cropped out of the frame

Negative Shapes:
This refers to the air or shapes around the actual objects in your picture. By focusing on interesting negative space, you can create an interesting composition.

Tangents:
At this stage in our art-making, typically I advise students to avoid creating tangents. Tangents can happen at the edges of your composition when there is neither cropping nor negative space.

Composition Overview

So why do we need a viewfinder? What will it help us do? This next video takes a step back to help you see how and why artists need to think about composition. A document reinforcing this content, with a little extra, is included right below this video : )

The below document further explain content in the above video. Enjoy!

Composition Overview

Thumbnails

How to Make Proportional Thumbnail Boxes (3-part video):

How to USE your proportional viewfinder to make THUMBNAIL Sketches

Sample Thumbnails

It pays to get the composition right:

Here is a variety of thumbnail sketches of the same setup. Some more successfully use the space than others. It is much easier to realize you don't like your composition after investing a few minutes for a quick thumbnail. If you are halfway done your final draft before you realize you don't like how you fill up the space it is much harder to make changes.










More Sample Thumbnails


Multiple Solutions Can be Right:

Often there can be many 'correct' ways to find a solution to the composition. All of these thumbnails would work well for a final draft. Unintentionally two sketches are included with only 2 objects (we try to include a minimum of three objects in our setups).

Here I try to show how you can line up some edge from an object along your quadrant line; it really does help when you go to enlarge your thumbnail. The pink line helps you see this in each sketch. By the way, in the video I make an error when discussing this handout. Anyone notice what I said incorrectly?









Student Sample Thumbnails



Here you see a student trying to come up with the best arrangement of their composition.




Negative Space

How to "Set a Ground" (and what does it mean, anyway?)

I'd also like to recommend a book that was used by my high school teacher to teach me, and that I think is very helpful and inspirational for those learning to draw:

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards.


Setting a ground refers to altering the surface of your paper in preparation for your drawing. In our case, we will use graphite (the material in pencils), to shade our paper and create an even tone on its surface. The following video demonstrates the process.

You will need:
A piece of paper towel (for blending)
A pencil (the thicker the lead, the faster the shading)
a piece of drawing paper, folded in half


How to use a Toned Ground to Draw Negative Shapes (by erasing!)

After you have made a toned ground, you will be able to make a drawing of an object by erasing the negative space around it. In this video you will see I used a stool. In selecting an object, a stool, table, plant stand, or even a plant, all could work. Select something that when viewed through your view finder breaks up the space into interesting shapes (at least 5 shapes).