FINAL TUTORIAL ON ADVANCED COMPOSITION - Nik Rafin.
Hello friends, so far we have covered two thirds of the 'Ingredients' of COMPOSITION.
I have good news for you! I'll be wrapping up the last thirds of the Ingredients today.
So, in this post I'll elaborate #7-LEAD-IN TO FOCAL POINT, #8-FRAME and lastly #9-ROOM TO
BREATHE.
These final ingredients are SUPER EASY and quite STRAIGHT FORWARD. So, lets get started!
LEAD-IN TO FOCAL POINT (Ingredient #7)
Basically, a LEAD-IN is a technique using any shape, color and line to direct your viewer into the
Focal Point. Usually it consists of interesting pattern or edge of something that points to the Focal
Point. It can be a straight line or the 'S' shape line pointing towards the subject.
Having a Lead-In in your painting would make it more visually interesting and appealing. The
subject stand out even more by making all lines in the scene point to it.
FRAME (Ingredient #8)
FRAME is a way of drawing viewer's attention to the subject by literally blocking other parts of the
painting with anything from the scene.
By 'FRAMING' your subject, besides helping the eye to 'ZERO IN' to the subject, it gives sense of
depth and leads the eye towards the Focal Point.
ROOM TO BREATHE ((Ingredient #9)
ROOM TO BREATHE is simply giving a space for the subject to look or move forward in the direction
they are looking or heading.
We have to arrange the painting in a way that gives the Focal Point enough room to breathe.
This way, we can eliminate a certain degree of discomfort and visually balance the painting.
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CONGRATULATIONS!! Now you have all the 9 important ingredients of COMPOSITION at your
disposal.
These ingredients are formulated from 30 years of my experience painting in watercolor.
I thank you very much for your time and your willingness to participate in this mini tutorial.
I hope these guidelines can be useful to you. Remember, these are just GUIDELINES and NOT
RULES. You can break them as you wish. You can have all the 9 'Ingredients' in a painting or
maybe 2 or 3..does not matter..as long as your composition is right, the story and content are
there..You'll be perfectly fine.
So long guys! Take care. :)
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