Why do composition rules say you can't do this?
2007-05-06 17:48:00 · 5 answers · asked by Zezo 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Visual Arts ➔ Painting
Art schools teach specific formulas that have been passed down for hundreds of years. They teach these formulas because these rules were taught to them.
But the true fact of the matter is that most innovative, original artists, those who have broken through and beyond the norm, have either ignored or greatly altered the rules.
I personally have put the subject (aka: point of view) on my canvases where ever I instinctively felt they belonged. While most 'teachers' would find fault with me doing this the people who view and buy my art don't pay a lot of attention to this specific 'rule'.
So, ask an 'art teacher' just how I was supposed to place the subject matter in this painting I recently finished:
http://pics.livejournal.com/unmired/pic/0004x1tx/g11
and see how they respond.
Composition rules should be taken seriously as guidelines when learning the craft of painting but should never be accepted as 'written in stone' if such rules hinder your own personal vision of creatively.
2007-05-06 18:10:39 · answer #1 · answered by Doc Watson 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are no composition rules that say you can't do that but tried and true composition rules that say what works best. If you get two equally good paintings, the one with the strongest composition will win out.
2007-05-08 10:16:36 · answer #2 · answered by GUERRO 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your eyes read a painting from left to right. Generally in a painting you want to keep the viewer's gaze from leaving the canvass, and still take in the entire composition. If you put the subject smack dab in the middle, it is not as interesting as if you place it slightly off center. However rules are quite breakable. Portraits are usually centered. Look at the work of Andy Warhol for instance with his soup cans.
2007-05-07 01:11:35 · answer #3 · answered by nguyen thi phuong thao 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Compositional rules are closed minded. Everything is possible, my friend. The universe belongs an open mind.
I think,....
2007-05-07 02:26:28 · answer #4 · answered by Stony 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It doesn't.
Just look at the many works of Warhol that do exactly that.
Most famous:
http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/visualarts/Image-Library/Warhol/Warhol-Campbell_Soup-1-screenprint-1968.jpg
2007-05-07 06:30:39 · answer #5 · answered by Puppy Zwolle 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋