Pencil Drawing Fundamentals - The Compositional Role of Object Placement and Viewpoint Selection
In this article we will learn about some of the considerations to be made when it comes to creating a composition or selecting a particular viewpoint.
First, let us introduce a few definitions:
Eye Level - The eye level is the height of the line (eye level line) that connects your two pupils. This assumes that you stand vertically on a level surface.
Eye Level Plane - A horizontal plane drawn through the eye level line is called the eye level plane. This plane divides a scene into an upper and a lower half space.
Horizon - The intersection of the eye level plane and a face-on vertical plane is called a horizon. An example of a close approximation of a horizon is the actual ocean horizon you see when standing on a beach. You will find that to view anything below the horizon your eyeballs need to rotate downward and to view anything above the horizon you will have to rotate your eyeballs upward.
Now, when you create a composition, you must first consider the height at which you will place the objects. This is critical because many compositions are weakened when the placement of the objects is either too high or too low relative to the horizon.
It is good practice to ask questions such as: Would my objects look better if I saw them from above? Would the composition benefit from lowering my eye level? What if the horizon were to split the objects? This last option means that a particular object is located such that part of it is above the horizon and part of it is below the horizon. That is, you see neither the top nor the bottom of the object.
The choice of placement of the objects relative to the horizon depends to a large extent on the form and the number of objects that participate in your composition.
Next to the placement of your objects relative to the horizon, your composition will also be fundamentally influence by your choice of viewpoint.
The viewpoint is determined by the location of the eye level plane and the location of your eyes on the eye level line. To help you understand the effect of the viewpoint on a composition, place a group of objects on a table and start varying your viewpoint, i.e., change the eye level plane by moving your eye level line up or down and then also by moving your eyes along the eye level line.
The idea is to study these different viewpoints, i.e., see how the composition changes when the viewpoint changes. Some of the objects will begin to intersect with others. Others will now show their top or bottom. At the same time you can also change the placement of the objects relative to each other to improve certain compositions that you found.
It is clear that both the placement of objects and the selection of a viewpoint drastically influence the composition of a scene. Your task as an artist is to change both placement and viewpoint in such a way that you end up with the composition that suits your artistic requirements the best.
It makes good sense to learn the difference. This can be done by developing your artistic sensibility for composition. One way to do this is to pay attention to composition when you study the work of great artists. In fact, the greatness of the work of some artists rests specifically on their talent for seeing good composition.
With this I hope that you now have developed awareness as to the importance of object placement and viewpoint selection and how they influence composition and therefore the attractiveness of your work.
Read how to draw with pencil, beginners oil painting tips and some glimpse of art with the home decorating interiors.
Posted on November 29th, 2008 by Admin
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