Famous Artists Schools, In Composition — how to make pictures Westport, Connecticut Lesson Albert Dorne Fred Ludekens Norman Rockwell AlPorker Ben Stahl Stevan Dohanos Jon Whitcomb Robert Fawcett Peter Helek George Giusti Austin Briggs Harold Von Schmidt‘You are saying Ye loo fo make Irs tn your Cour you wl oor thw pers mn Tanne sate ‘nyhing you con sa ot Imagine, Bt ‘ate mor hon drewing tae « ple rt tas rowing plot poning. Bo eos ploming the errengement of the ‘inci the pure apocr et ba, we ten trong you fo ht simple fondo. tevtls very on your hed ron Waar Toast eso sn wil crane In meceing er vole Wh srry ase fons Tern your Course we wil Soka mmre edvnced wan ins vry par ton capt of malig pisuren, whch le town or Compostion Composition ‘Composition means the selection and arrangement of appropri: ate clements within the picture space s0 that they expres the farts’ idea clearly and effectively. Ht makes # great deal of Aliference how we pit together the things we dase within our picture space. Often, pieture will suceet or fil, depending ‘om ow wel i x composed ‘Composition, in baie sense, means combining forms and space to prodaces harmonious whole. When we make a picture, swe arrange the picture elements mich the way 2 composer of runic arranges musical notes and themes to form a harmonious result. The composer of msi creates an arangement in sound See, a8 aris create 2 visual arrangement. In composing. a Picture we ate chiefly interested in where we place our objects In the picture space how fenportant we make them in ste ane ‘aloe, sre how they relate to each other and to the oataide borders of the pictre. ‘Good pictures we se, do not simply happen. They are not the result of thoughtlely throwing” together miscellaneous ‘objects or fling upa background with details. No matter how ‘well we draw of paint, unles we plan our picture caeluly it BrTcy to eave the viewer with an unsitised feeling. A well composed picture, on the other hand, will give the viewer a Satised seme of onder or beauty, although he may not realize ‘by what metheds this satisfaction was produced Every picture stars with an idea ~a story we have well, an etlect or mood! we are striving to communicate. In composing, Wwe veletthowe things fo our picture which clarify our idea and wre discard thoe which may distract oF conte: [No matter what the subject of your picture may be, bin by aking youre: "What isthe basic idea I want to get actow? What things most I putin the picture so thatthe sewer sil tunderatand i at once? What is important —and what in' 0” Tm composing, you emphasize those elements of your pictare that will dramatize ic the mos. Usually this equites a change in the sizes of things. You make important objects larger oF clearer or stronger than they may appear in reality, and lee important objects you nike imaller or lew distinc, Objects can be featured or played down by adjusting thei position as well a their sie, For instance, you might place a powerful, important figure in the middle of your picture space nd draw him large, so he would dominate the picture. By con rasa shy, retiring characcr might be shown much smaller and to the side, dominated by the space and the objects around him. The arts can actually control which part of his picture the viewer will linger over and find most mesningtul. By the way he arranges the objects, he ean establish a definite focal point or enter of interes. and lead the eye to it indiecly or direc He can also use light and dark tones to help emphasize this center of interest ‘Often the artist cam use the natural shape of his subject to ood elect in establishing his composition and the proportions ft his picture. For example, if the subject isa wide expanse of meadow or sa, it might well sigest a picture ofa long. ho ont shape, For a picture of «Tong, narrow subject Hike a tall ‘man or aehurch tower, 2 vertical picture of similar proportions tight dramatize the height of the subject mow strikingly. Dit ferent forme ae often best expres by eiferent picture shapes All of thee are principles you can apply in developing your cown compositions Once you have leet how t0 ise these Principles, you will soon find yourselt giving sharper clearer txpresion 4 your ideas saying what you want to say directly Sand interestingly im pietares,The picture starts in your mind Iefore making a picture, the artist mast decide what he wats to show ini He has to select is subject matter and then he tno ara that he pte wl ea ete 3 pos Ideas bogin in the mind, and that is preciely where pictures bogin too. In ft, dhe minor fagination in natural creator of pictures When we hear a word or think of an idea, the fag ination goes to work at once and project a picture inthe mind. Suppo we bear the phrase “Two lovers ate ating on tench in the park.” Instantly the imagination create a picture fof young man and woman close together on a bench, pethaps locked in each other's arms, We visualize the walk, the st rounding tres. the grassy Lawn, (Or, we may be Tistening to the radio and hear a crime play which begins with theve words "Tt is dusk, A blue sedan driver Lup t a gas station. From it the figure of a man emerges the Tower half of his face covered by a handkerchiet. He moves silently toward the sation, hie righthand thrust ominously in porkss” Inumedintely we coujore up a seen iammgey = cv of the whole tension packed sene: the ear, motor at hing. drawn up alongside the gas pumps, the deor swinging ‘open, the sinister figure of the gunman moving swiftly toward the station, Every word is fel to the imagination. ‘We ate always forming such mental images of things which we hear, read or think about. These images are the Taw mu terial of which pictures are made. he first mental image which our mind forms in response to picture idea is jst one posibilty. Ave think about i other find better views may occ fo us, We mast ty out these vari tions before deciding which will make the bet picture. The art thinks on paper. Av one image follows another through the mind, we put them down on paper ia the form of rough sketches, working out the arrangement of the objees whieh we sce in our imagination. Both our thinking and our ‘keiching should be broud and flexible at this point. This isnot the time to bother with details! Serna gla 8 dno lie a PPh Sa ney poate we ihr pase ans ese eed pt oe tiComposi n — how to make pictures Basic thinking and arranging ‘When you ave a good! mental mage of what you want to show in your picture, the picture is already partly composed. The jects we efltively as you ean Here we show you the Kad of baie thinking you ame do in composing. Start by simplifying the objects in your picture. The elements vietim, and a tree. Our your preliminary sketches reduce thee objects to their si the details ms. These large forms must be properly related ifthe picture io be succesful 1 Above, you se three picture elements —a man with a gun, his bem is to arrange them in the picee space atthe right fo form s good composition Placing the elements Notice, fre ofall how utterly simple the picture elements have teen made, They are completly bre of deal, tf almost as if vee decided on the general sz, shape, and value of the picture cements and the background and cut them out of pieces of black, white, and gray paper. Our composition problem is main Iy-a matter of sifting them around unl we ative at the best ment, Naturally, we will work with a pencil ~ our "think tool" —and try out each arrangement of the picture ele ebbThe four main elements of composition Picture areaPicture areaVary your sizes with a purpose When we show just a single thing in a picture, the viewer's eye cannot belp but be drawn to it No matter how small we mabe this single objec, i isthe center of interest ~ the mow impor tant thing in the picture. However, when we add second ‘object third, of sill more, the station becomes more om plicated, Unless we establish 2 scale of relative importance tmong these things, the viewers eye will not know where to go. tnd he may nos understand the message that the pictre is sup. posed to comtey. Again, one ofthe artists ways of showing what i important in his picture is through the relative sizes he makes his object i, for example, we want to compose two figures in a Ory ithastration, we can make one figure overwhelm the other oF dominate i just lightly ~ depending, co a good extent, on the relative size we make each figure. I we want the viewer's imerest to be divided equally between the two Rgures, we can make them both the sane ze, Ie is posible to place strong emphasis fon a figure by drawing it in the foreground and making any ther figure much smaller. The same rule apply when we have ‘many figures or objects in a pictre “These admittedly, are very simple examples. The possibilities are endles, However, the basic principle remains the same “The size we give to things and where we place them control their importance in the picture. Sie should never be chosen hapharandly or without regard to the eflec i will produce. It should be decided upon just at carefully asthe action of pose.Applying common sense to composition Although the actual making of pictures may be new to you, you will ind that you have acgoad deal of practical experience and jindgment which you can apply in composing them. ‘The same rules of common verse hold true for pictures as for real life For example, a pietore, like 2 room, may be bare and empty, oF ‘comded and cluttered, of have 10 much in one corner and under ondinary conditions, none of these extremes is ood. Below are examples which wll belp you tie fn your thinking about picture making with your everyday experince. They demonstrate that there is nothing mysterious about composing fa picture. Ie ells forthe same Kind of common sense and judg ‘ment you use in solving the ordinary problems of daily living WApplying the principles — Fifem Lee A oped op ped epee an interesting way Overlapping, cropping and making objects appear smaller ax they recede int the distance are useful devices for giving pc tures a sense of depth, an illusion of reality. It isnot enough. however, to create depth in ncompention — we must do tin an "The drawings om this page show right and wrong ways of sg sesting depih in pictures Unles there is some special reason for Edo not line up objects in a row, ezowd them into half of 2 quarter of the picture depth, or arrange them in a regular or ‘obvious design, such asa cross ora triangle Tes auch beter to place thing 0 that they make a varied, informal, and interes. ng pattern in depth ‘Otten the interest ina picture can be incensed by selecting Aligerent view from the one you stat with. In the fist view the objects may be all of 3 sire or lined up at regular interval. By taking snother view, may be pomible to stagger the objects at diferent intervals, to make some large and some small for the sake of variety. Vou might uy a view from the side in place of ‘ne from the Iront oF change the angle of vision in some other vay. There are always new posites worth considering Don't ever be satisfied with an ordinary companion oF keep repeating the same few basic arrangements in your pictares. Try torcreate something new. Think —experiment — move your ob jects around in depth unl you arive at arrangements tht are iferent and interesting ‘That is what the best artists do,3 Composition — how to make pictures 7 In this cover iltsration for a farm magarine, Helck's center of interes isthe to figures and the tractor and plow. He drew them lage and placed them in the left foreground, so they would dominate the scene. He arranged the plowed furrows to cary our eye sharply back over the hillside tothe fara — and fur Jhasized this movement into depth bythe direction ofthe tractor and atthe left, a well a the geste of the farmer, Ben Stahl ad three sets of figures to arrange in this room, and he composed them tovreate striking elect. ff depth. He made the most important figure largest and placed him in the foreground. ‘The others he made smaller and placed them further back, staggering the Ay and interes. The diagonal crested p pals our eye sharply ack into the room and strengthens the sense of dep, Note thatthe ashtray is actualy Tanger than the fgures atthe rearLine The term line as generally underson x smply the outline of apply it tocompeniton, however, line means the direction i which ou eye moves at we look at 3 picture. We create this directional kind of line by arranging the bie inthe pcre tha thee shapes tr ma nes eal the ee Controlling the movement ofthe viewer's eye within the pictre borders is 3 When we very important part of picture making The ati must always be aware of what the lines in his pictures do, la composing a picture we mvs plan thee lines to help guide the newer’ eye, We shoul make sure that one line lends to another, and ultimately to we center of interest. I we work unthiakingly, we may create Strong lines tht lead to unimportant part ofthe illustration or out oft skogether Tt is alao important 10 be aware of the type of movement that directional Hine creas. lecan mone our ee along quite smoothly and vhythmicaly from one thing to another, grouping and relaing abjecs which belong together. On the other hand the movertent may be abrupt — the artist may purposefully create a clash of lines. This may be appropriate i he is drawing a ene of violence or conti. Line can be t strong force or a subtle one — but i shoul always lead the viewer so that he will ee and fee the things we wan him to lemon, hni q 3 — 2 z : E22 Value though last in order, iis by no means lait in importance. Like area, depth, and Tine, value can playa leading par in the making ofa picture Many pictures have a mond, and a major factor i creating this mood i the example bably be painted Tighe in high bey” But ine a scene with a feein air, we could accent by making the picture dark in value or in a “low key." In a violent fight wene of picture of orm we might logically select a wide range of contrasting values ranging from pre white to solid black, ‘Valves should be to set the mood. For example, the overall effec ruined if part of the pi somber tones out of ey With mood of dark despair could be weakened by thoughtles!y Tight or gay tones Jost asthe proper use of line leads ur eye toa focal point in a picture, wo our tends to go to tho points where there Is the gretest contrast of values. This jects become more conspicuous when placed next to a value chat ‘contrasts with their own. On the other hand, when an object i surrounded with ‘alles that are nearly the same a its own, it fs not so likely to attract our atten tion. Thus our eye is drawn to te blak h an standing in front ofa pile ‘of snow —but it not attracied when he moves over and stands in front of @ pile of coaL We can use this principle o help focus attention where we want fein pleure, within a picture, particularly where we we them the picnic sene might be in it were painted in deep on, And, dilly, pcture raducing ie becauseFomovs Artis Course tenon 3 Composition — how to make pictures Plan with few simple values Before you begin to paint, you should always ty to decide on abasic value pattern: In general, the basic valu plan of most Pictures can be reduced to one of the following Tigh against dark ‘dark again Tight {Garkand halftone (inbetween tone) agains fight Tight and dark again halftone Sometimes thee pater are cle recognized at once. Often, however ‘ale patterns may be hevily over snd sharp, and can be are more subtle. The rth texture or made up of detailed forms that obscure the basic scheme of darks and ight Sil if you squint atthe picture you will ee that one of re basic value pattern is there underneath and that ic holds composition together ‘picture in which the values are not solved in big simple terms is unally confusing. To avoid this problem, settle on the values of the lager areas of your picture right atthe start. A food vay to do this to make small value sketches, much like the illustrations below, so you can quickly try out a number of dilferent valve pattern and we which one works best.Lesion Fem Aste Coie 26 Composition — how to make pictures Evolution of the composition Same subject, many compo: “The composition appearing on this page was one of a series of aadsertinements for American AitlinesAirreight which appeared jn ntional magazines The sory concerned gol ball manutac turer who found himself trapped by a serious production prob- Jem. A nearby source which had long supplied ital these balls was unable to maintain delivery schedules delay in production might mean the goall maker would be "in there inatead of “on the green. “The problem wis to show the golfball manufacturer in trouble and sill ie the sory up with the game. As the entre series of adverdsements was in humorous ein, it was decided to picture the business man in a sand tap which, f course, represented trouble. The copy in the advertisement explained how American Aisines Aiefeight helped the business man out of his tial. You learn to draw by drawing28