Last updated: November 17, 2004

DesignSTRUCTURE™

A Beginning Guide to Composition in Art

OUTLINE OF BASIC COMPOSITIONAL STRUCTURES 

This illustrated guide to composition for beginners fosters understanding of the process of design and the importance of design strategy.  It presents a logical view and visual comparisons of the Elements of Design as they are applied to organization of the Principles of Design.  Learning this process gives birth to studio skills, creativity, and personal expression.

            Two survival instincts based in human visual perception govern the creation of meaningful art and design: to make order out of chaos, and to focus on unique features.  These basic laws of perception allow us to relate similar things to avoid confusion, and to distinguish extraordinary things to enliven our existence.

     These two laws outline how a vital and dynamic living system, a human being, copes with visual reality by instinctively tapping into innate survival skills: (1) Humans seek visual order within the chaos of reality to avoid confusion and potential physical harm.  (2) Humans seek unique visual features to enliven and vitalize an otherwise uniform or boringly similar environment. 

     From these ideas we can discern two perceptual states: confusion (consistent unpredictability) and boredom (consistent predictability), neither state of which is usually acceptable to human beings for an extended time period.  These laws apply not only to the visual environment, but also to other choices we make in life, such as our preferences for music, food, places, activities, and people.  Psychologically, socially, and artistically, our “cravings" may be based as much in deficiency as in desire.  If we are deficient in understanding, we desire to remedy that deficiency through study and practice.  If we desire something strongly, we will manage to achieve it through persistence and perseverance. 

As we practice our art and it is deficient, we desire to improve it.  It is relatively easy to recognize visual deficiency, just as it is easy to recognize beauty.  In all that we do reasonably, we seek a healthy balance (but not a boring equilibrium without relief).  Significant Art achieves a balance between Harmony and Variety.

An artist manipulates the Elements of Art (Point/Pixel, Line, Shape, Value, Texture, and Color) according to preferences relating to the Principles of Art (Harmony created by Repetition and Rhythm, Variety created by Contrast and Elaboration, Balance, Movement, Proportion, Dominance, Economy, and Space). 

            When we begin to study varieties of composition used by designers and artists, pattern construction shows us that repetition creates precise order and considerable beauty.  But unceasing repetition without variation creates decoration with minimal emotional association, or decoration without expressive content. 

An artist must go beyond pattern in order to develop meaning in an artwork.  As Variety increases in a composition, a structuring of dominant shapes or other elements of design remains visible, regardless of the subject matter depicted.  An artwork or design begins as an abstract plan of distributing art elements that will most effectively reveal the subject matter.  Throughout history, artists and designers worldwide have used similar plans or diagrams to subdivide the picture plane into interesting proportions.  Thus, the following compositional structures are a guide to the layering of space within a picture plane to create form.  Most artworks combine more than one of the following structures because multiple layers of art mediums or techniques best achieve compelling visual interest.  A layering of processes is an attribute apparent in museum quality art, worldwide.

  Once you have determined your subject matter, it is best to create the compositional structure that will complement your subject.  Work from background to foreground, proportioning and layering the abstract shapes that carry the subject dynamically.  It is easiest to begin your composition by choosing from among one of these basic formats for the picture plane: 

1.  SINGLE PANEL

2.  PANEL including NARRATIVE BORDER (picture in picture),

3.  DIPTYCH (two panels)

4.  TRIPTYCH (three panels)

5.  MULTIPLE PANELS (other variations)

Then choose from among these seventeen basic compositional structures in order to design the picture plane: Angular, Bridge, Cantilever, Central, Circle, Cruciform, Curvilinear, Even, Diagonal, Diamond, Grid, Horizontal, L-Shape, Radial, Triangle, Two Centers, and Vertical.  Most memorable artworks combine more than one basic compositional structure through a process of layering Shapes that subsequently develops areas of both subtle and dynamic Space.  The design process often begins by proportioning shape from background to foreground.

The following guide introduces the design structures according to their historic use in either Classical or Romantic composition, or in both styles.

Emphasis on Geometry (a.k.a. Apollonian Structure)

Classical implies an emphasis on Geometry or angularity, and symbolizes Reason, the Intellect, and visual unity.

PATTERN

SQUARE PATTERN
	SQUARE PATTERN  (Color)
	SQUARE PATTERN  (Grayscale)
BRICK PATTERN
	BRICK PATTERN  (Color)
	BRICK PATTERN  (Grayscale)
DIAMOND PATTERN
	DIAMOND PATTERN  (Color)
	DIAMOND PATTERN (Grayscale)
CIRCLE PATTERN
	CIRCLE PATTERN  (Color)
	CIRCLE PATTERN  (Grayscale)

THE GRID  (Classical Structure)
	GRID DOMINANT (Color)
	GRID DOMINANT (Grayscale)

THE CIRCLE  (Classical Structure)
	CIRCULAR DOMINANT (Color)
	CIRCULAR DOMINANT (Grayscale)

THE TRIANGLE  (Classical Structure)
	TRIANGLE DOMINANT (Color)
	TRIANGLE DOMINANT (Grayscale)
	TRIANGLE DOMINANT (Color)
	TRIANGLE DOMINANT (Grayscale)

THE DIAMOND  (Classical Structure)
	DIAMOND DOMINANT (Color)
	DIAMOND DOMINANT (Grayscale)
	DIAMOND DOMINANT (Color)
	DIAMOND DOMINANT (Grayscale)

ANGULAR DOMINANT  (Classical Structure)
	ANGULAR DOMINANT (Color)	ANGULAR DOMINANT (Color)
	ANGULAR DOMINANT (Grayscale)	ANGULAR DOMINANT (Grayscale)
	ANGULAR DOMINANT (Color)
	ANGULAR DOMINANT (Grayscale)

ROMANTIC  COMPOSITION (a.k.a. Dionysian Structure)

Emphasis on the Curvilinear, symbolizing Nature and emotion. 

 

 

Diagram

Photograph

Artwork Internet Links

CURVILINEAR DOMINANT  (Organic/Romantic Structure)
	CURVILINEAR DOMINANT  (Color)	CURVILINEAR DOMINANT ART  (Color)
	CURVILINEAR DOMINANT  (Grayscale)
		A sculpted tree trunk on the Spearfish Canyon Golf Course.
	CURVILINEAR DOMINANT  (Color)	CURVILINEAR DOMINANT  (Color)
		A detail of a mural in Vermillion.
	CURVILINEAR DOMINANT  (Grayscale)	CURVILINEAR DOMINANT  (Grayscale)

Either CLASSICAL or ROMANTIC Structure 

CENTRAL EMPHASIS
	CENTRAL EMPHASIS  (Color)
	CENTRAL EMPHASIS  (Grayscale)

TWO CENTERS
	TWO CENTERS  (Color)
	TWO CENTERS  (Grayscale)
	TWO CENTERS  (Color)
	TWO CENTERS  (Grayscale)
	TWO CENTERS  (Color)
	TWO CENTERS  (Grayscale)

THE BRIDGE
	THE BRIDGE  (Color)
	THE BRIDGE  (Grayscale)

THE CANTILEVER
	CANTILEVER  (Color)
	CANTILEVER  (Grayscale)
	CANTILEVER  (Color)
	CANTILEVER  (Grayscale)

THE EVEN SPREAD
	EVEN SPREAD  (Color)
	EVEN SPREAD  (Grayscale)
	EVEN SPREAD  (Color)
	EVEN SPREAD  (Grayscale)

RADIAL
	RADIAL  (Color)
	RADIAL  (Grayscale)
	RADIAL  (Color)
	RADIAL  (Grayscale)

DIAGONAL EMPHASIS
	DIAGONAL EMPHASIS  (Color)
	DIAGONAL EMPHASIS  (Grayscale)
	DIAGONAL EMPHASIS  (Color)
	DIAGONAL EMPHASIS  (Grayscale)

HORIZONTAL EMPHASIS
	HORIZONTAL  (Color)
	HORIZONTAL  (Grayscale)
	HORIZONTAL  (Color)
	HORIZONTAL  (Grayscale)
	HORIZONTAL  (Color)
	HORIZONTAL  (Grayscale)
	HORIZONTAL  (Color)
	HORIZONTAL  (Grayscale)

VERTICAL
	VERTICAL  (Color)
	VERTICAL  (Grayscale)
	VERTICAL  (Color)
	VERTICAL  (Grayscale)

THE L SHAPE
	THE L SHAPE reversed  (Color)
	THE L SHAPE reversed  (Grayscale)
	THE L SHAPE  (Color)
	THE L SHAPE  (Grayscale)

	CRUCIFORM  (Color)
	CRUCIFORM  (Grayscale)

Design and composition requires practice Proportioning and layering shapes within the picture plane.  To create the most aesthetically pleasing size relationships, scale, and the positioning of intervals within a picture plane, a study begins with traditional understanding of proportion in Nature, natural phenomena, and metaphysics.  Study the proportion of shapes in Nature.  Study and practice the following two proportioning systems:

1.      The GOLDEN SECTION and the GOLDEN MEAN: Metaphysical Curiosity or Universal Revelation?

    Most attempts to explain the origin of the Golden Section, its use in antiquity, during the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and into the 21^st century trail off into legend, speculation, and mathematical or metaphysical obscurity.  Some say it originated in Egypt, as one of several proportional systems used in their buildings, statues, and paintings.  Others connect it more convincingly with the work of the Greek savants, such as Plato, and geometers, notably Pythagoras and Eudoxus, both of whom probably knew well Egyptian achievements in architectural proportioning.

     The Golden Section of a line and the Golden Section of an area appear to have been employed as regulating devices in Greek architecture and in the designing of pottery as early as the 5^th century B.C.  The architects of the Parthenon (Ictinus, Calicrates, and the sculptor Phidias) seem to have made use of an advanced understanding of Golden Section and Root – 5 proportions.   No one is certain of Greek architects' plans for their most famous temples and buildings, such as the Parthenon.  No one knows if they deliberately used the golden mean in their architectural plans, or not.     

    Euclid (a Greek geometer living about 300BC), in his treatise called "Elements," calls dividing a line at the 0.6180399.. point : dividing a line in the extreme and mean ratio. This later gave rise to the name golden mean.  This was the "mean and extreme ratio," according to the Greeks, while it has been known in more recent times as the "divine proportion" and "golden section." There is some confusion over the origin of the later term, the "Golden Section".    

    In 1509, Luca Paccioli authored a book called De Divina Proportione (The Divine Proportion).  It contains drawings made by Leonardo da Vinci of the five Platonic solids. It was probably Leonardo da Vinci who first called the "golden mean" the sectio aurea (Latin for the golden section).

    In the 20th Century, the American mathematician Mark Barr used the Greek letter phi () to represent the golden ratio (using the initial letter of the Greek Phidias who used the golden ratio in his sculptures).  Another source attributes the term "Golden Section" to Johannes Kepler, who believed it to be one of the most beautiful constructions in the mathematical world.

Fully Entering the TWILIGHT ZONE!

   Today, mathematicians also use the Greek letter tau (), the initial letter of tome which is the Greek work for "cut" as well as phi.   From an aesthetic perspective, the golden ratio or golden mean is one of the most beautiful quarks of the mathematical universe because of its combination of elegance and simplicity.  In Art, it represents an historically significant ratio for the beginning divisions that establish either two-dimensional or three-dimensional space.

Legend: Eudoxus’ Stick Trick 

    During the 3^rd century B.C. it is said that Eudoxus carried with him a stick – probably a walking stick – that he asked friends to divide at whatever point they sensed to be the most pleasing.  More often than not, much to his delight, they chose the point of the Golden Section.  (Do you suspect that many students may choose to divide the stick into equal parts?  Do you suppose that the American education system, over the past fifty years, with its insistence upon left-brain logic, has destroyed much of natural curiosity in the vast majority of students?  Is this a sign that subtlety of thought is disappearing in America?)  Whether fact or fiction, this tale illustrates something important in art and design: THE CLOSE RELATIONSHIP OF INTUITIVE PERCEPTIONS, OR FELT RATIOS, TO REASONED CONCEPTIONS OR MATHEMATICAL RATIOS. 

Application

    Art may spring up at any point between the extremes of passion and construction, but cannot arise exclusively at one pole or the other.  At one extreme is pure emotion and chaos; at the other is pure geometry (unvarying pattern).  We look, therefore, for a kind of harmonic – rhythmic conformation in art, where feeling accommodates itself intimately to order, and geometry is a component of expressive structure.  The important point is that the geometric mode, of whatever sort, must never be decided upon beforehand and made to serve merely as a frame on which to hang the rest.  It must be part of the original idea, and function as an integral part of form and feeling.  Accepting this, one may proceed to a study of geometry with no fear of entering upon sterile ground.  IN ANY EVENT, ONE CAN NEVER BE SURE FROM WHERE ENLIGHTENMENT OR INSPIRATION WILL COME. 

    Problems of proportion arise in any art problem.  These pertain to measurement (addition) and geometry (ratio), on one hand, and to perception and intuition on the other.  The Golden Section is often used or recognized in all types of artwork.  In Art, its use can be a practical beginning of composition on a page, as in diagramming the proportions of shapes throughout a space.

    Read the following book and do a Web search on "Golden Mean" for a load of further information:

Vision and Invention, by Calvin Harlan, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1970.

 An explanation of the golden section and its application is found in the following diagrams:   

Explanation: THE GOLDEN SECTION OF A LINE

What is The Golden Section? The golden section is a line segment divided into two parts. Point C is positioned such that the ratio of the short half to the long half is equal to the ratio of the long half to the whole.
The line below, "A--------C-----B," represents the ratio CB:AB = AC:AB, or AB^2 = BC x AC

            Given:  Line AB

            C = The Golden Section 

Explanation: The Golden Section of a Line

 

 

 

 

 

Given:  Line AB

BC = ½ AB

AD = BC

CD = AE

E = The Golden Section

Description:  Call the line AB.   Draw a perpendicular line at B.  Take half of AB and mark

this length as C.  Draw the diagonal or hypotenuse AC and then, with point of compass (or string) at A, swing an arc across AC from ½ AB.  Then, with compass point at C, measure off the length CD.  With this measure and the point at A, arc the original line AB at E, its Golden Section.   In formal language, THE LESSER PART IS TO THE GREATER AS THE GREATER PART IS TO THE WHOLE.

            Golden Section Geometric Ratio:  (EB/AE) : (AE/AB)

            Golden Section Algebraic Formula:  (a + b) / a = a/b

Explanation: The Golden Section Proportion (Extension) of a Line

Given: Line AB AB = BC AD = DB CD = DE E= The Golden Proportion of AB Description:  Call the line AB.   Draw a perpendicular from B the same length as AB (AB = BC).  Mark ½ AB at point D and draw hypotenuse of triangle BCD.  Then, with compass point at D (compass width = CD), arc an extension of line AB at E, the Golden Proportion of AB.  (BE/AB : (AB/AE)

The Golden Section of An Area

Explanation: THE GOLDEN SECTION RECTANGLE

Given: Square ABCD

Ae = ½ AB or (Ae = eB)

Ce = eF

AFGD = the Golden Mean Proportion (Golden Section Rectangle) of square ABCD.

The Golden Section of An Area: Dynamic Symmetry

Explanation: THE SQUARE IN THE SEMICIRCLE (The Root – 5 Rectangle)

Given: Square ABCD

Ae = ½ AB or (Ae = eB)

Ce = eF

IFGH = the Root 5 Rectangle (a double Golden Section Rectangle) of square

ABCD, capable of being read both ways: to the right or left from the central square. More importantly, it can be divided into five equal parts, each having the same proportions as the parent rectangle. Parent and children are all so-called Root - 5 rectangles. Division of the rectangle is achieved by drawing a diagonal from corner to corner of one of the two Golden Mean rectangles and a shorter diagonal from a third corner, intersecting the first at right angles. The shorter one becomes the principal diagonal of a Root – 5 rectangle proportional to the original.

Still more divisions can be made within this smaller rectangle; thus, the versatility of the Golden Mean is recognized, and also its magical connotations.

This diagram illustrates what supposedly was a special delight of ancient Greek architects.

The following diagram further illustrates the Root – 5 divisions of the Root – 5 rectangle IFGH above:

Dynamic Symmetry: The 5 equally proportional parts of the Root – 5 rectangle IFGH

Note: Picasso’s "Guernica" is almost a perfect Root – 5 rectangle, which divides compositionally into Juxtaposed and interlocking squares and vertical rectangles.
                 

2.      The FIBONACCI SERIES of NUMBERS.  The Fibonacci numbers are: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34…(add the last two numbers to get the next number in the series).  They were noticed originally (as legend goes) by breeding rabbits.  What other insects and animals breeding histories support this theory?  Additionally, the significance of the Fibonacci numbers is that they can be derived from their appearance in Nature (the spiral of a conch shell, sea shell shapes, branching plants, flower petals and seeds, leaves and petal arrangements, pineapple segmentation, apple cores, pine cones and leaf arrangement, etc.)  Do a Web search for a load of further information.

 Also, do a Web search on: 

3.  CHAOS THEORY.  If you are really curious now, read the book CHAOS: MAKING A NEW SCIENCE, by James Gleick, Viking Press.  1987.  ISBN 0-670-81178-5.  This book will show you how to make sense of weather patterns, the migration of butterflies, pendulum clocks, playground swings, the ups and downs of wildlife populations, cloud formations, blood vessels, cotton prices, transmission errors,  jagged shorelines, decoding color, the flow of fluids, flow and form in Nature, dripping faucets, the geometry of snowflakes, loaded dice, fractals, analog computers, measuring unpredictability, and everything else where art and commerce connects with science.

In summary, an understanding of visual composition begins with knowledge of human perception, of design in Nature, of art and design history, and of the guidelines that art practitioners have used since the beginning of recorded history.  When imagination is stimulated, new forms of meaningful art result.

For further information and advice on composition, refer to Professor Navrat's homepage, syllabi, and the bibliography of referenced books on art and design that form the basis for his views, at: www.usd.edu/~dnavrat  

 

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