From the course: The Elements of Composition for Illustrators

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The six rules of composition

The six rules of composition

From the course: The Elements of Composition for Illustrators

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The six rules of composition

- If you want a more powerful composition that packs some punch, follow the six basic rules of any good composition. The Golden Ration or Rule of Thirds. The Golden Ration is also known as the Golden Mean, Golden Section, and more commonly, as the Rule of Thirds. It's a mathematical ratio of one to 1.61 that can be found in nature. You've probably seen this before. Here's how the two-thirds rule breaks down in natural objects like this Nautilus shell. It's been used for at least the past 4,000 years in human art and design as we find it to be inherently pleasing and you can apply it to own work in a similar method. For your images, divide it into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, and place the focus of the painting either one-third across or one-third up or down the picture. A human figure represented in an image can be a stick figure or a complex, highly rendered Renaissance painting. In either case, and with any figure, man or beast, cropping them at particular junctures can…

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