ELEMENTS OF ART COMPOSITION

Gotta tell you how these self-taught art lessons can change the way we see our world.  Yesterday we trolleyed to get my stitches removed.  The weather was unseasonably warm....mid-afternoon 82 degrees for the end of October.  Some of the leaves are still clinging to the branches, and I found myself noticing the color contrasts in nature.  How the yellowish leaves stand out against a brown background.  These are the baby steps to understanding art, but it goes to show that all things we learn about do make a difference to life.  With that said, here are eight elements to look for in art, with a tiny explanation of each.......

Unity:  Do all the parts of the composition feel as if they belong together, or does something feel awkwardly out of place?

Balance:  Balance is the sense that the painting 'feels right' and is not heavier on one side than the other.  Having a balanced arrangement adds a sense of calm, whereas an off-balance arrangement creates a sense of unease.

Movement:  There are ways to give a sense of movement to a painting.  Artists use leading lines to direct the viewer's eye into and around the painting.  Leading lines can be actual lines of a fence or railroad, or implied lines, such as a row of trees or a curve of stones or circles.

Rhythm:  Much like music does, a piece of art can have a rhythm or underlying beat.  Look for the large underlying shapes (squares, triangles, etc.) and repeated color.

Focus (or Emphasis):  The viewer's eyes want to rest on the most important thing, or focal point in the painting.  Otherwise, the eye feels lost, wandering around the page.

Contrast:  Paintings with high contrast--strong differences between light and dark--have a different feel than paintings with minimal contrast in light and dark.  In addition to light and dark, contrast can be differences in shape, color, size, texture, type of line, etc.

Pattern:  A regular repetition of lines, shapes, colors or values in a composition.

Proportion:  How things fit together and relate to each other in terms of size and scale; whether big or small, nearby or distant.