"Paintings With Personality"

Crabapple Chutney

RULES, WHO NEEDS THEM?

      I was talking to ‘Honey’ about the rule of thirds. He was paying attention but not listening. I knew he wasn’t listening when I said the rule of thirds meant I got two thirds of the bed and he got the remaining third and he didn’t blink an eye.

      In college, we learned about the Golden Mean. It is a way of dividing the rectangle of our canvas or paper into a visually pleasing composition. Today, the golden mean is generally called the rule of thirds. It is also referred to as the golden ratio, the divine proportion, divine section, golden proportion, the golden cut and so on. The 'divine golden proportional rule of thirds section' (my compilation of its various names) is believed to be the best position for the focal point in a composition.

      Very simply, this rule divides a rectangle or square into thirds (both horizontally and vertically). The result is nine equal parts, see the example below. The ‘sweet spots’ are where I placed the four red dots and where you might want to place your center of interest. The center of interest is the part of your painting where you want to direct your viewers focus and the human eye naturally goes to one of the ‘sweet spots’ rather than somewhere else on the rectangle. The rule of thirds also gives you four lines that are good positions for objects in your painting.

                                                                     South Street Seaport After Dark

      As with all rules, the rule of thirds can be broken. First we learn how to use the rules and learn what happens when we break them, so experiment before messing up one of your amazing works of art. Ignoring the rules doesn’t mean your paintings will be terrible, the key is learning the rule first.

      When painting portraits I purposely place the head of my subject on one of the points where the lines meet in the rule of thirds, placing the eyes where the lines intersect. Everything else on my working surface is secondary in interest. To place a head right in the center of the rectangle can be awkward and make designing a background difficult. When painting a landscape the horizon line can be placed along one of the horizontal lines. You can choose to have multiple focal points which create a dynamic feeling, but that is for another time.

      The rule of thirds has nothing to do with who gets most of the bed, but don’t tell ‘Honey’. Right now he believes I made up a rule so he would give me more of the bed.

      Let me hear from you, what do you think about having rules in art and what do you think about breaking them? Next post is Thursday.