18 COMPOSITION
THE ARTWORK AS AN ARRANGEMENT OF ELEMENTS
A work of art can be considered as a group of distinct elements that may be arranged by the artist in a fashion that furthers his or her artistic intentions. While compositional strategies are limitless in number and dependent on the intentions of the artist, there are a number of basic approaches that yield predictable results.
COMPOSITION BY GEOMETRY
In this approach, the artist applies a stable geometric pattern to the work and then places the principal elements to align with it. While almost any geometric pattern will achieve stability, some tend to make for more interesting or more pleasing compositions.
• The Golden Mean
This is a ratio of 1:1.618. Division of a work by this ratio ...
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