Composition and Principles of Design

Composition is the way you arrange the parts of your picture on the page. Artists work to arrange the parts (lines, shapes, colors, and textures) on the page so that they will grab the viewer’s attention and keep the eye moving all around. When you begin to work with composition you step away from rendering exactly what you see, and begin to make artistic decisions about what you want to express, and how.

The process of composing the picture is called design, a process of selection, simplification, distortion, and rearranging.

Artists use "principles of design" to make decisions about how to arrange the parts of a drawing. Some of these include:

Variety: Using different shapes, lines, colors, and textures to create interest.

Harmony: Using similar shapes, lines, colors, and textures to help the design hold together.

Unity: Organizing the parts of a design so they work together.

Simplicity: Eliminating parts in order to create better unity.

Balance: Arranging the visual weight of the parts to create a feeling of visual balance.

Contrast: Including differences that make the parts stand out.

Emphasis: Deciding which parts of a design to draw most attention to.

Repetition and pattern: Repeating shapes or lines to reinforce an idea, or unify a lot of different elements.

Rhythm: Leaving spaces between repeating elements to make a pattern that creates the desired feeling.

Movement: Placing the parts to guide the eye all over the design.

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Paint Application and Mark-Making

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Art with Cynthia

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