Composition: Understanding it - Using it! (3/4)
Author: Larry Seiler, Contributing Editor
Note how little the white background draws attention to itself, but in this last picture note how so many positive elements added makes noticing the background white shapes easier to see.
Here we see much more has been added as positive elements. "Positive" in the sense that these are the objects the artist would draw our attention to. I want to explain another phenomena now that happens. Look back at the first couple pictures having less objects.
The background shapes are known as the "negative" space, and is that area the artist would not intend to draw attention to. So long as the positive elements are much less in total space in the picture plane, the negative space will act as a resting area or "neutral" zone which demands nothing of the eyes, and makes it easier for the eyes to follow along in scrutinizing the positive elements. As the area of positive elements increases, it becomes harder to follow along, and the strange phenomena that occurs is a flipping. The negative space in essence becomes the positive elements or those spaces/shapes that the eye will be drawn to notice, and the positive elements become like the negative space as having less interest for the eyes. For this reason, some artists believe you should never go beyond a 40%-60% ratio of positive elements to negative.
Here, I took the same last picture and flipped it upside-down, and turned it into a greyscale to make it easier to see how the negative spaces as shapes are almost easier to look at than the darker values.
An artist may wish to cause a feeling of tension, and purposefully put elements out of pictoral balance. Does this piece seem to work? Do you find the eye naturally following shapes, diagonals, and working itself back into the picture plane, or does the eye easily
Now I want to show you an exercise for analysis and observation that I teach my painting students. We will be using a commissioned portrait I did here, though I usually bring a gazillion art magazines and plop them in front of the students to choose images from.
This allows us to see more clearly how the artist composed elements, both positive and negative. It helps us put a finger on why one painting seems to work, while another does not.
leave the image?
