[samdragon]

This final �tip� on composition is assuming you have followed the previous threads. We have gone over many of the aspects that are in this tip in greater detail. So if you get confused, look at the previous tips here or at Artcamp. This tip will be dealing mainly with how composition affects the mood/feeling of an image and how positive and negative space can be used to create a better image. I will be using two images, each from different artists. I will be asking you questions that are left up to you to answer, you don�t have to post the answers, just try to figure them out on your own. Some questions I will answer, but not in detail. At this point, you should be trying to see these things on your own, so I�m leaving some things blank to make you think about what�s really going on.
If anyone has anything to add or thinks something I said here is out of place, please step up and we�ll discuss it. If you are not sure about something, just ask.
Next, I will be discussing about proper contrast and how to create contrast, tones, value all that fun stuff. These future tips will discuss how to use Photoshop or related program to find these things. I will be dealing mainly with black and white images (gray scale). Most people just skip line drawing and dive right into color. Not a good thing�.anyway�.on with the show!
Ok, before we tear into these two artist�s paintings, let�s look at them first and see what similarities if any are present. Let�s forget who the artists are, or what they were done in, oil etc. Let�s just look at these two as images on a canvas, Image one on the left and image two on the right.



Both images have a woman, a very young and appealing woman. They both have some kind of humanoid monster. Hmmm. Notice how both males in these two images are fading into nothing? In image one, we can see that the male monster is fading into the black of the woman�s cape. In image two, we can see that the male figure is fading into the wings. In both images, we can see wings of some sort. Image one has the impression of a wing formed by the woman�s cape, and image two has the wings �cupping� the two figures together.
What emotions do these two images give us? What emotion or feeling are in image one? Does it make you ask questions? Does it reveal everything to you while you look at, or do you have to look back? What about image two, same questions. Well, each image has a male and female. Each image has some feeling of fear, but it�s different for each one. What type of fear is the artist portraying here?
Now this is where we get to dig into the images. Composition can have a very slight or very noticeable impact on the viewer in terms of over all feeling and mood. Of course color has a very large impact too, but we�re not getting into that just yet. So don�t rule out color.
Image one relies heavily on positive and negative space. See how the white of the woman�s skin breaks up the form of her cape to give it the effect of a wing, as well as the black of her clothing disappearing into the shape of the monster below her, forming one figure with two heads (beauty and the beast all rolled into one). Notice how the woman has curvy features that are broken up by the linear features of the male figure.
In image two we can see two distinct figures, or do we? We can see the upper extremities of the male figure but not the rest. We can see all of the woman�s posterior side. So where is the rest of male figure? Is the rest of the body those serpentine shapes at the bottom? I�m sure the artists didn�t just forget to paint in the rest of the body, so maybe there is a reason for not showing the front side of the male. Maybe the artist did this to give more mystery to the painting.
In the previous thread, Fred posted some outstanding examples of how different shapes and lines have different effects in a composition. So what do you think the over all shapes are telling us in these two images? Well, they are all curvy and slender in shape so our brain sees these as being feminine shapes. Image two has plenty of these shapes, not in the woman, but over all. The wings form the shape of the female genitalia (is the subject becoming clearer now?) See how the wings in figure two cup inward to enclose everything? Maybe this Is why the artists did not want to show too much male anatomy as it may distract from the over all feeling. Image two certainly fits into the category of erotic art. Maybe not the extreme of erotic art.



You�re brain sees this stuff, but your eyes don�t. So look at the images I provided of the shapes and outlines to help you learn how to look for these things.
Is image one an erotic image? It has those curvy shapes. It has a woman on a male figure back. This is debatable, but for the sake of getting this done with out typing a book, we�ll say no, this is not erotic art (as we know it to be).
No, I�m not getting off the subject, look at how each images composition and shapes from totally different things. Image one looks more like the winged victories from ancient times, were as image two forms something TOTALLY different.
Learn to see shapes before you see detail. Start with shapes and work your way up.



Do these artists intentionally plan these to look like that? Yes and no. Sometimes artists do things in their paintings without knowing they did it. And other times, they say � well, I want this image to be very sexy and scary, but I don�t want that to be obvious at first glance.� They then begin to experiment with different shapes and how the main elements of their image will fit into those shapes. Or visa versa.
Ok, now to the bare bones of these images.



Looking at the diagrams I�ve provided, are both images centered on the canvas? Do both images have any distinct movement to them? How does the artist want our eyes to move across the canvas? What is the artist trying to tell me?
Are they both centered? By centered, I mean is all the information in the direct center of the page? Does the rule of thirds apply in each image? (see previous post)
Image two is centered; all the info is the middle of the canvas. Our eyes only move in that one area.
Image two is centered also, as well as dividing the page in half.
They are both visually symmetrical. Meaning, visually, the space is equal on all sides. Now if you got out your tape measure I�m sure you would find it isn�t, but visually they are and that�s what we are concerned with.



Image one has some very nice visual qualities to it. It has more mystery. By mystery, I�m referring that it doesn�t give away all its visual clues at first look. Look at that cape the woman is wearing. See how it appears seamless with the wings of the monsters below her. See how it mimics the form of the woman�s body. Notice how the arch of the cape matches the arch of the woman�s back. Look at how the negative space formed by that arch makes a nice big arrow drawing our eyes inward and to the right.
Once we are in the black void, the stark white hand of the woman shoots us out into another space. We now see the pole of the scythe, so we can either move up or down, either way, we are going to end up down at the monsters head. The movement is shaped by the curvature of the scythe as well as the other white hand touching the hair of the monsters head. The motion in this image is from top left to bottom right. Forming a diagonal line. If I remember correctly, a diagonal line running from left to right downward is a line that is supposed to make us feel sad. (That�s debatable also)



Image two doesn�t have much in the way of mystery. Everything is presented to us, aside from the �female� shapes. This image is very centered on the canvas; there is much in the way of eye movement aside from moving straight down the center of the canvas. And also straight up from the bottom. This movement can be seen in the diagram with the green and yellow triangles. Look at the sketch of the man and woman; not very interesting standing on its own is it? What about the pure shape of the wings? Pretty menacing aint it. Maybe now you are starting to see some of the elements that make this image give off its haunting presence.

So, again I ask. Is it bad to have something centered on the page? Yes and No. There are times when it�s appropriate and times when it�s not. Image two draws us into the center of the image. This �drawing us in� effect is very important in the composition as it adds to the erotic feeling of the image. If image one didn�t have the blending of shapes and forms, it would not work. We would be looking at two figures centered on the page as if they are statues.
About the artists:
Image one is by Brom, image two is by�..yep Boris Vallejo.
As an illustrator you are selling your style, that�s what (usually) gets you a job. Not the fact that you can paint or draw well. When you want a certain look for an image, you don�t just hire any ordinary illustrator, you hire the one with the style that best fits what you�re wanting. So, sometimes it�s dangerous for an illustrator to change styles right in the middle of his career. But on the other hand, as an artist you grow and with that growth your style makes changes. Some are subtle and others are drastic. Brom realizes this, so he is careful about changing his style. If you have seen any of Broms recent stuff, you would have to look twice before you realized it was a Brom. His style is still there, but it�s changing, for the better! This progression is very evident if you have seen some of his earlier stuff.
On the other hand, you can pick out a Boris or Boris rip-off from a mile away. We all know is psycodelic earthy tones and figures.
Both artists are very accomplished and very talented. But even they had to start to somewhere. You can learn from these guys, but look at it this way, they learned from the masters. They studied them and drew until their eyeballs bled. These people didn�t just pop up over night, they worked hard at learning this stuff. You can obviously see in these two examples the difference in training these two artists had.
So in summary,
As stated before, composition is more than placement of shapes on paper. The form of the shapes as well as the position can effect the over all mood of the image. The visual movement of these shapes can also effect how the image is perceived.
When you look at your favorite artists, and say to yourself �how in the hell did they come up with that idea?� well, all you have to do is look back in history at the artists before them and you�ll find out.
Some of us older farts are bored with Boris�s images. For one, his images have been around for a long time, and they haven�t changed much over time. He starts to fall into the category of �if you�ve seen one, you�ve seen em all� no pun intended


[This message has been edited by samdragon (edited June 20, 2000).]

[Fred Flick Stone]

I could add quite a bit to this, but you've covered enough I think on this one. Nice job with the descriptions. You are definitely touching on one aspect of composition. There are so many more though that really need to be addressed as well.
Keep this up...Your doing a great job with the information gathering. Have you taken a look at Edgar Paynes book on "composition of outdoor Painting? I think you need to get that book, as it will help you understand a number of other levels of thinking when composing, that will only add to the info you already have...
If no one else says it I will for them...THank you for your time and efforts into this subject.

[Anthony]

Nice analysis, very entertaining read. One thing-I think it's stretching to compare the wings to female genitalia. The image really doesn't feel erotic at all-if I picture that image existing in front of me(in real life), I react with a sort of digust ridden sneer-the woman is obviously enjoying the monster, and it makes me sick. ^_^ Thanks for posting the essay!

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-Anthony
Carpe Carpem

[samdragon]

Yeah, I promised I would do this, I hate that I'm running it into the ground. But some people can benefit from it, and it gives me something to do as I don't have time to draw right now this stuff probably takes about 30 or so minutes to type and another 15 or so put the images together

When I get a job I'll be buying alot of books, Fred. I'm keeping a list, there are about 20 or so I really want to get.
Anthony:
It may not look exactly like the female genitalia, but it does have some of the feminine qualities. I was trying to show how you can incorporate latent shapes into your images to give the image a certain feel. Things such as that vary from person to person.

[Transcendence]

Like Fred said - thanks for taking the time to post this stuff. I really enjoy these.


Wouldn't it be nice if they all were in a zip file?

[samdragon]

I think zapman has put some of the others I did as well as the ones Fred has done on the artcamp website. Check it out, It's really nice.

I enjoy doing this stuff, This is the type of stuff I do when i don't have time to draw or paint. So, it's alot like thinking outloud, instead I just type it all down. I will never forget what it was like when I was first getting started into all of this. So I'm always happy to share ideas and learn things while I'm doing it. As Fred mentioned, these are very basic and alot has been left untouched. So maybe this and the past ones will get people interested enough to find out more on their own. I guess it just helps to sometimes put down the pencil and study an image and find out what makes it so interesting.

[ozenzo]

Hey Samdragon, thanks a bunch...for a while there I thought maybe you forgot about part three....I've been diligently waiting for the next installment, you've given me a great deal to think about and work on...I thank you for taking the time to try and help me out...you as well Fred! I have so many things to work on right now!! It's great!! It's like learning music. You start to get to the point where you think you really know something only torealize that there's a whole world sitting next to you that you never new existed....it's what makes things fun, knowing that you'll never know everything there is to know. No matter how long you study. There's always more to learn...thanks for illuminating the end of the tunnel for me!!

[This message has been edited by ozenzo (edited June 20, 2000).]

[immi]

Sorry, I have nothing productive to add except god, does that ass look good.

[samdragon]

I'm glad you folks like the tips, I think i'll cool off for a while and start working on my site and gathering stuff for my portfolio. Job hunting will begin very shortly, so I'll be concentrating on that for a while as well as doing new illustrations. I'll be back here to post the progress of some illustrations for critique and so on.
Thanks folks!



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VISIT SAMDRAGON'S HOME

[Nex]

thanks for you efforts. very informative stuff.

you guys really help me out a lot!

[amnesia]

Man I've been reading and look at this thread for like 20 mins, and I only just worked out the womans face in pic 1. I thought it was like a hideously deformed face with a big nose and chin.. but now I've worked out that half of her face is under her hood and that she is acutally real pretty.

Somebody pat me on the back. Make me think I'm clever.

[daz199]

thanks for ur porno analyisis heheheeh