Pictorial Compositions, Continued
Proportion in
By using the basic principles of composition to divide a picture area, the
pictorial
artist has total control over the proportion of the picture area. Since the
compositions
scene does not already exist, as it does in photography, fragmentation of the
picture area is an arbitrary decision left to the illustrator. Study the works of
Mark Rotho and Piet Modrian, non-representational painters who
successfully divide the picture plane into rectilinear elements. Evaluate your
thumbnail sketches to determine their proportions. The following figure
illustrates some proportional divisions found to be more pleasing to a viewer
than others.
Figure 1-20 shows examples of proportional divisions of picture planes.
Figure 1-20.—Proportional divisions of picture
planes.
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