hi, i recently followed and i love your art. i like how (ar least the recent things you posted recently) are pretty simplified and pack a punch visually
and i wondered if you use/have learned any particular techniques for compositions? i've tried studying how rule of thirds/golden triangles/whatever the hell apply to compositions i like, but i didn't learn from it in a way i could reliably use
Thanks! When it comes to composition, the main things I think about are bias and how to lead the eye.
Our brains like bias in images. Something that splits the canvas 70/30 is more visually interesting than something that splits it 50/50. That's why we often aim to divide the canvas into big, medium, and small shapes, and why those shapes look better when there's significant difference/bias in their sizes. The image on the left below has more contrast between the size of its shapes, and so feels more visually interesting than the one on the right:
When it comes to leading the eye, it tends to move along lines/edges, and it tends to move towards the points where lines converge and intersect. You can use this to guide the viewer's eye through your piece to your focal point. For the same reason, having too many lines pointing in random, unrelated directions, can make the piece feel disorganized and unclear.
For example, you can see how much clearer the location of the focal point is in the upper composition here than it is in the bottom one:
It's true that the upper one is pretty unsubtle, but you gotta know how to make it work unsubtly in order to make it work subtly because the subtle stuff is just the unsubtle stuff in disguise.
I'd also recommend keeping catalogues (folders on your computer, powerpoint presentations, however you like to store images) of art that you like so that you can use them for reference, inspiration, and studies. I keep a composition catalogue and a color catalogue among others.
Sidenote, Edgar Payne's book, Composition of Outdoor Painting, is a great resource for learning about composition:
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