being interested in image in general and other graphic arts in particular can bring you a real plus in photography. This is why I decided to welcome another guest blogger who is more of a designer than a photographer, and who brings us his very interesting and well-illustrated vision on the contribution of drawing to composition. Composition which is as essential (if not more) in photo as in drawing. I will therefore give him the floor. Since photography has drawn on the earlier arts to create its codes, it seems obvious that learning (a little) to know painting and drawing can only be of benefit to lovers of instant images. I decided to share with you some principles of compositions used in drawing.
Nature, this artist...
Nature is infinitely rich in contours and spaces. The shapes that can be observed in nature are the basis of Andrew Loomis' illustrative and creative approach. The latter is a famous illustrator who has written very educational books on learning to draw, of which you will see some extracts in this article.
If you examine a landscape, you will see that the shapes intersect, follow each other, overlap… Framing this space (with a camera for example) allows to reveal this harmony of the lines that make up the environment.
A small, simple exercise to learn to locate these curves is to draw them on your images. In this way you will sharpen your eye and have a more precise sense of observation.
The search for balance
For an image to be pleasing to the eye, it needs balance. The concern is to obtain this harmony without having recourse to rigid and purely geometric axes of symmetry. So how do you get an image that looks balanced with curves for example? I must tell you that balance is really a matter of relative judgment. It is up to us to decide whether we should move a shape, place it in a less constrained, more ventilated space or if it should overlap another element in the image... Nevertheless there are certain rules that we apply in a drawing that can be used to make harmonious shots.
One that is important is not to have two identical elements on the same plane (prefer an odd number) which overlap or are juxtaposed. If you have two identical elements, in most cases try to arrange them in each corner of the image.
Between two shapes of different height and width, we take care to leave the space between the two by ventilating the center of the image. The middle line of the image is like the point of equilibrium of a scale, and each shape should be placed on either side of the scale.
How the gaze circulates in an image
This is what is at stake in photography, painting and drawing. Suffice to say that the path of the gaze in an image is important. And for good reason ! The path taken by the viewer's gaze will largely determine how they will appropriate your image and understand (or not) what you want to convey through it.
In a good composition, the eye must be able to make a precise path between the elements of the image. In this one for example, the character is outside, on a flat platform, suddenly the image is very airy and the construction lines are very visible. However, we can also make this image less monotonous by adding " obstacles to the gaze ", areas of out-of-view.
In general, the gaze enters an image from the foreground (therefore from below) and comes out from the background. But here, the bushes constitute obstacles to the gaze. The eye follows the path to the character and when he is about to leave the image. Hop! A branch with leaves causes it to turn around to return once more to the area of the house before exiting through the top.
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