Composition rules in art

I finally got round to doing my composition research for my canvas work and it surprised me how many there are.

Golden points and the Rule of thirds:

• The best place to put the main subject of a painting is where the points intersect (in the red circles).

Example

The L shape:

• It's unlikely to see the pure L shape in compositions 

• Usually a mixture of several shapes in a composition when this is used.

The golden triangle:

• The triangle is close to the center and the object is formed around the triangle shape.
• Almost every Madonna and child format is based on the Golden triangle. 

                      Example

                                                                                                                 The golden spiral:

• The golden spiral creates pleasing shapes within paintings because of the aesthetically pleasing proportions.
• The paintings loosely follow the lines and curves of the spiral.

                                             Example


















Pre-Raphaelites:

• The Pre-rapaelites were a group of people who created their own rules of composition,
• They insisted on giving an equal focus on all parts of their paintings,
• They painted the backgrounds first and then the figures later,
• Pre-Raphaelites began painting on white ground (rather than the prefered mid ground most artists would use),
• Because of the way and structure they painted, everything becomes significant.

Example