OUTLINE

Foreword
I: First Principles
The Centre, Dominance, Unity and Variety, Anomaly,
Counterpoint, Balance, Symmetry and Asymmetry
II: The Principles of Grouping
Review of Figure-Drawing Principles, Figure-
Drawi ng Pri nci pl es as appl i ed t o Gr oups ,
Massi ng, Interval , Movement and Domi nance,
Si ngl e- Poi nt Or i gi ns
III: Compositional Formats
Single-Figure Composition, The L-Shape, The V-
shape, The U-shape, A Major Geometrical Figure
Backed by Other Geometrical Figures, The Frieze-
type, The Diagonal Division with Spill-over, The
Large Mass Balanced by a Small Mass
IV: Pathways, Pointers, etc.
Pathways, Pointers, Radiation and Explosion, Near-
Far, Large Flow-Through Lines
1
V: Value Composition
Silhouettes, The Value Keys, Tenebrism, Rembrandt,
van Dyck and Holbein schemes, Moving Elements
into the Distance
VI: Colour: Theory and Practice
The Colour Wheel, Colour-matching Exercises,
Compliments and Near-Compliments, Analogous
Colour, Essential-Colour Studies, Full-Colour
Studies, Field-Colour
VII: Palettes
Some Historical Palettes: an 18th-Century Portrait
Painting Palette, the Flesh-Colour Palette, Frank
Reillys Palette, the Harmonic Palettes, Denman
Ross
VIII: The Compositional Sketch
Pencil Styles, Colour
IX: A Note on Geometry
The Golden Proportion, the Basic Armature, the
Rabattement, the Root Series, Hambidges Dynamic
Symmetry, Bouleauxs The Painters Secret Geometry
Appendix
The Colour Charts
2
Outline
Why compose?
Human beings delight in the invention and discovery of systems astro-
nomical, physical, artistical. We have an inherent need to arrange things
and organize them: we do not place our furniture haphazardly in our
rooms, but organize it into a pleasing and functional arrangement.
When presenting a business proposal at a meeting, we require the pro-
posal to be logically and clearly set out. When examining the universe,
we try to understand it as an integrated system and, when telling a
story, we need that story to be well organized and to flow.
In addition, more germane and most important, we compose to make
the painting involve the viewer emotionally to make it more power-
ful, more compelling and more expressive. To simply copy nature is to
do as Andy Warhol did when he filmed a person sleeping for twelve
hours: the film lasts twelve hours and is easily one of the most boring
visual experiences imaginable. A good director, by emphasizing some
things and eliminating others, can create a powerful impression of a
twelve-hour sleep in fewer than ten seconds. I think this may have been
Warhols point. A simple list is not a work of literature.
For us modern figurative artists, pictorial composition began in the
Renaissance, when the painters needed to find better and more intense
ways to tell their stories. The church was the largest buyer and the
imperatives to the painters were threefold: tell the story in a clear way
for the simple, an eye-catching and memorable way for the forgetful,
and tell it with full use of all emotional resources, in order to involve
the viewer. All these concerns are in the domain of composition, and, in
order to do them well, the painters drew on a great medival tradition
of picture-making and then, later, began to examine the techniques of
the ancient Romans, as more and more of their work was unearthed.
These studies were all practical their purpose was to learn how a
life-like and convincing image could be fabricated, how a figure could
be made to express emotion and how an element could be given domi-
nance, so that a story could be told effectively. Later, the idea of beauty
1
Foreword
Michael John Angel
entered the picture (every pun intended) and joined with the search for
expression. The painters and sculptors learned all this from studying
works of art and coupling this with observation of nature. They had no
textbooks.
Like these earlier artists, our purpose here is to examine the principles
of composition as they are found in the paintings themselves. It is
not important to us whether the painters consciously employed these
principles or not (although I believe they did): the beauty exists in the
work and it is this beauty and expressive power that we are trying to
understand.
The discipline of art history tends to concentrate more on the artist, the
artists environment and the painting's provenance than on the work of
art itself. The painting often seems to be important to the art historian
only as an icon for the painter and his, or her, times.
This gives art students some grave problems, as they need information
about the methods of expression contained in the paintings they
want to learn how to create beautiful and powerful works of art and
need to know of what such things are made. As a painter, I am much
more interested in the work of art than in the person who painted it.
Should it turn out that Rembrandts Man in the Golden Helmet is a nine-
teenth-century fake, I could not care less. It remains a beautiful, miracu-
lous and powerful painting.
* * * * *
Many of the painters of the past wrote manuscripts on technique: the
best being, perhaps, Thomas Bardwells, written in the mid-1700s.
Surprisingly, however, they seem to have written no practical books on
composition.
This possibly came about because of a split in the painting world in
the seventeenth century. Since the Florentine Renaissance, painters had
been striving to be recognized as practitioners of the Liberal Arts, a
class of things that included poetry, philosophy, music and mathemat-
ics, but not the visual arts. The Liberal Arts were practiced by noble
intellectuals, the visual arts were practiced by craftspeople. Over the
centuries, the artists tried to show their wealthy patrons (they were
careful not to call them clients, mind!) that they too were educated and
cultured, that they were people of the intelligentsia, not tradespeople
who worked for money.
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Foreword
Michael John Angel
Because of this, the last thing these socially minded artists wanted was
to be associated in their publics mind with the nitty-gritty of studio
practice. Their books expound in broad, philosophical generalities and
use a language designed to separate the writer from the common man.
Meanwhile, the fine old art of picture-making went on, but its prin-
ciples were communicated to the student only in the studios, through
examples and through word-of-mouth. The late nineteenth century
saw the triumph of the socially minded artist art came to be about
the Artist, the Genius; the work of art became less and less impor-
tant and, in the twentieth century, the art of picture-making almost
disappeared. It hung on in the work of some of the great illustrators
of the 1930s, 40s and 50s and in the work of some little known and
shamefully ignored figurative artists (Pietro Annigoni, Anna Hyatt,
Ives Gammell, Mario Parri, Gertrude Fiske, Adelaide Chase, Gretchen
Rogers, Fannie Duvall, Andrew Wyeth the list is actually very large),
but none of them, to my knowledge, wrote a how-to-do-it book on
picture-making, and the algorithms, the step-by-step instructions, for
this art all but disappeared.
The twenty-first century is seeing a renaissance in Humanism, in the
concern for a human way of life and in the figurative art forms which
echo that. But where is the student to learn the practicalities of this art?
Like our predecessors of the Italian Renaissance, we look to the great
art of the past, and the works of art themselves become our text.
This empirical attitude happened also in music, by the way. For hun-
dreds of years, the musicians who came after Bach analyzed his compo-
sitions and the compositions of other of their predecessors, and devel-
oped a myriad of successful variations of musical form. This became the
huge structure of compositional practice.
Annigoni said that there is only one art, and it manifests itself in dierent forms:
music, painting, literature, etc. In an abstract form, identical compositional
principles apply to all the arts and to all times. Simon and Garfunkle are using
the same principles in their Six OClock News as many Classical composers have
done: the introduction of a quiet background element that grows and grows
until it becomes the dominant sound. Tis principle is employed in the colour
composition of many paintings, and we nd it, too, in novels wherein a seem-
ingly minor incident encountered early in the book takes on more and more
signicance as the story develops and, nally, shows itself to be a major theme.
In the book that follows, however, I am talking about these principles as they
apply to painting.
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Foreword
Michael John Angel
It is important to remember, though, that the figurative artist, whether
working from landscape, figural, or still-life elements, must add obser-
vations from nature to these compositional principles. Art based only
on other works of art quickly runs the risk of becoming affected and
manneristic (in the pejorative sense). Worse, it becomes boring: human
invention is limited when compared to the great suggestiveness found
in nature. As we shall see, nature is able to evoke underlying structural
principles in the most easy seeming manner, rife with variation dith-
er, as Harold Speed liked to call it. To be successful artistically, the
painter must combine the conceptual (the understanding of abstract
compositional principles) with empiricism (the intelligent observation
of nature). To write this book, I have had to look at many beautiful
things (flowers, trees, works of art) and to figure out what they have in
common. Primary amongst these things were hundreds of paintings I
have gone to the source and looked, not at what I think the painter did,
but what the paintings are, what they look like.
There are many aesthetics in art and those students who are interested
in twentieth-century-type, abstract (i.e., non-figurative) work will not
find a lot here to help them; although, there is some overlap. This is not
to imply that I only like paintings that are realistic, by the way, nor that
I like all paintings that are figurative far from it: certain styles and
philosophies simply do not appeal to me. But style and aesthetics are
different subjects from that of composition.
* * * * *
The exercises which follow each chapter are the heart of this course. It is
not enough for the painter to merely understand the principles outlined
in the following text; the artist must practice them, in order to learn the
skills required by this fine art of composition. As you have found in
your work from plaster casts, the principles themselves are fairly easy
to understand, but the assimilation of them is won only by long hours
of practice. The same is true for the discipline of Composition. Never
cut corners in your studies; to do so is to opt for mediocrity.
4
Foreword
Michael John Angel
I
2006 Michael John Angel
figure 1
figure 2
cu.v1vv oxv
First Principles
Asixviv, .ns1v.c1 vivxvx1 should be placed on the page such that
the left and right margins are equal to each other and the bottom mar-
gin is the largest of the four. The top margin can be the same width as
the sides, or can be slightly smaller (fig. 1).
However, a figurative element (a figure, a head and shoulders, a jug,
a mass of flowers, a group of trees, whatever) looks better when placed
slightly off-centre. This gives more interest, more animation, and hints
at an increased realism, as nature is rarely seen perfectly centered. Be
careful, though: do not completely remove the (dominant) element
from the centre; part of it should remain across the vertical centreline.
If the subject is a head, a portrait, there must be more space in front of
the face than there is behind the head, so that the subject does not
appear to be uncomfortable. Similarly, to avoid a sense of oppres-
sion, the subject must not have too much space above the head (fig. 2).
In figs. 3 and 4 we see two examples of beautifully placed portraits (and
beautifully designed shapes): a Holbein (fig. 3) and an Annigoni (fig. 4).
Of course, one must break these rules if ones purpose is to disturb
the viewer. A tree placed dead-centre will give a strange, mystical feel-
ing. A low placement of a head, or figure, will create the feeling that the
subject is weighted down, oppressed by the environment. Please note
that the gesture the mime, so to speak of the figure should be
appropriate to this mood. As Hamlet advises the actors: let the action
suit the words. The subject and the composition must gel together it
is, in fact, the mood of the subject that dictates the type of composi-
tional elements needed. We shall consider this idea again, later.
As we have seen, in painting all design work starts from the centre,
not from the frame, and works outward, symmetrically or asymmetri-
cally. Granted, the frame, or boundary, creates the centre in the first
instance, but it is the centre that holds the primary place. One enters a
painting from neither left nor right, but from the front, going straight
to that element of greatest contrast nearest the centre.
Composition begins, then, from the centrelines. All things being
equal, the eye will go to the centre, or to that area of greatest contrast
closest to the centre. If there are two areas of similar contrast, the one
closest to the vertical centreline will be the dominant. However, a high-
contrast, eccentrically placed element will tend to dominate over a
low-contrast, centrally placed one.
These contrasts can be created using any of the normal devices:
value, hue, chroma, hard-edge, etc. A light object seen against a dark
background, or a bright red drapery seen against a duller green one and
both seen against a more neutral background: these are two examples of
contrast. All other things being equal, a warm colour generally domi-
nates over a cool one and a high chroma dominates over a low one.
It must also be emphasized here that the eye has a tendency to rise;
of two elements placed one above the other, the lower one may grab
our attention, because of high contrast, or anomaly (see below), but
the eye will then rise to the upper one. This is particularly useful in a
representational painting, wherein the upper
element may draw our attention away from a
greater contrast element directly below it,
because of the addition of anecdotal interest.
We can see that this is a common ploy in por-
trait painting; the initial attention may be
grasped by a white collar, for example, but the
eye will then rise and look at the face.
These are the two most powerful forces
with which we have to deal: the tendency of the
eye to look to the centre, or to the area of great-
Coxxox Pv.c1icv ix Pic1ovi.i Coxvosi1iox
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2006 Michael John Angel
figure 3
figure 5
figure 4
est contrast closest to the centre, and the ten-
dency of the eye to rise.
noxix.xcv: uxi1s .xn v.viv1s
A painting, like any other work of art, needs to
be arranged in a comprehensible order, a sys-
tem: there should be a dominant element, with
secondary and tertiary elements ancillary to it.
In fact, one definition of a work of art is that it is the presentation of a
(real life) subject in an artistical form. The painter can use old forms,
which are tried and true, or invent new forms; but, in either case, some
form must be discoverable by the viewer if the painting is to be a work
of art. We shall look at these wonderful old forms in Chapter 3; they
are surprisingly simple.
All painters work within a system, just as all poets, musicians and
choreographers do. A poets system can be one or another of the son-
net forms, or the ballade, or the sestina; a musician can use any of the
concerto forms, or the symphonic form, etc., etc.
To say the same thing a different way, the artist must first establish
a system within which she can work. One cannot, for example, intro-
duce a variant without first having a unified system into which that
variant can be introduced. Nor can one move elements back into
space, another example, without a system within which they can be
moved.
It is this system which is the most difficult part to design. And it is
this unified system that gives the strong, over-all character to the work.
A work of art is composed of two major, contradictory aspects:
Unity and Variety. Unity (sameness) gives character to the work, where-
as variety (contrast) gives vivacity and life. Of the two, unity (the uni-
fied system mentioned above) is the hardest to design and is the most
fundamental. Unity creates the field within which the painter operates.
Two examples of portraits, unified by the consistent use of the oval
construct are figs. 5 and 6 (Raphael and Ingres). The oval creates the
sense of wholeness and of motion. Figure 7 shows a 17th-century
Dutch still life by Willem Kalf, which uses the circle in both its con-
structs and its placements. Fig. 8 is a portrait by van Dyck, using flow-
ing lines, which give animation and verve.
Please note that the different types of elements create different
emotional responses in the viewer. As we have just seen, flowing ele-
ments give animation and verve, while the oval gives a sense of whole-
ness. The straight line gives architecture and strength, the zig-zag is
electric and shallow curves (both S-curves and C-curves) are lyrical.
The horizontal gives calm and repose, the vertical creates dignity and
the diagonal is full of action.
Cu.v1vv Oxv: Fivs1 Pvixcivivs
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2006 Michael John Angel
figure 6
figure 7
figure 8
.xox.is
When a different type of element is introduced into the unified field,
the result is startling. We see in fig. 9 how the attention is caught and
held by the two small, leaf-like shapes, even though the vast majority
of shapes in the picture are box-like. It is this maverick element, called
an anomaly, which calls to the viewer and may become the main sub-
ject. In writing, as you are seeing, italic text acts as an anomaly, calls out
to us and impresses itself on our attention.
Figs. 10 and 11 are two abstract examples of anomaly. In fig. 10, our
attention is immediately caught by the circle, while in fig. 11, which is
an example of anomaly of placement, our eyes go straight away to
the displaced square (the one that has dropped down). The Ciseri
Trasporto di Cristo (fig. 12) is a figurative example of anomaly of place-
ment, the equivalent of fig. 11.
In fig. 13 we see an example of anomaly used in landscape; the
majority of the painting (the clouds and the land) is constructed out
of cloud-like curves, but our attention is held by the startling horizon-
tal straight lines across the centre, near the horizon.
We introduce anomalies for
the sake of variety and, as we have
seen, they are real attention-get-
ters. If, however, our anomaly is
not to be the main subject, we
must introduce more, similar ele-
ments and place them around the
dominant, or focus, such that the
attention of the viewer falls in
between them; i.e., falls on the focus. Please note that the anomalies do
not have to be placed at equal distances about the dominant, nor do
Coxxox Pv.c1icv ix Pic1ovi.i Coxvosi1iox

2006 Michael John Angel

figure 10
figure 11
figure 9
figure 12
they all have to be the same size, or exactly the same colour. They need
to be placed asymmetrically and with wit, such that the resultant ten-
sions (as the pulls between these elements are called) hold the viewers
attention at the required focus. Fig. 14 is an example of a single-figure
composition (a portrait, by Bouguereau), in which the dominant, uni-
fying shape is the oval, but into which has been introduced several
rectangular shapes, for variety.
Let me stress again that the main focus is almost always placed on
the vertical centreline. If it is not, there must be a good reason for it.
All our discussion of anomaly should not lead you to believe that the
main subject must be a maverick element. This is simply not true; the
main subject is often made up of the unifying elements, but it is given
power and made to hold the attention because of its placement near
the vertical centreline.
A spectacular example of a powerful use of anomaly is Bonnats
Portrait of Cardinal Lavigerie (fig. 15), in which the over-all rectangu-
lar constructs are interrupted at the centre by the anomaly of the sin-
gle triangle, created by the opening at the front of the cardinals robe.
The effect is riveting. It is true that there are hints of half-formed tri-
angles elsewhere in the painting, a suggestion of counterpoint (see
below), but nothing so blatant as this powerful, centrally placed trian-
gular monolith. Please note how the eye then rises to look at the
Cardinals head, as we discovered earlier (page 2).
Cu.v1vv Oxv: Fivs1 Pvixcivivs
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figure 14
2006 Michael John Angel
figure 13
figure 15
A common anomaly mistake is found in the colour scheme of
some portraits. The painter will use a grey-brown background to off-
set the colour of the face and will then colour the subjects clothing
blue, for variety. The result is that the clothing becomes the anomaly,
the attention-getter, not the face. A very common mistake in the value
composition of a portrait, in which a business person wears a dark suit,
is to make the background the same over-all value as the face, in an
attempt to get away from a dark, pre-20th-century look. The result is a
painting of a suit, rather than of a person. The old masters knew what
they were doing; the dark suit and the dark background, in their paint-
ings, became a unity against which the light-value face is electrifying.
coux1vvvoix1
As we add more and more repetitions of the anomaly, an equality of
incidence between the original unifying element and the new, anoma-
lous element becomes manifest. In fact, we arrive at a point where the
painting is now composed of two nearly equal sets of elements, though
they are different in type. This double-system (or triple-system, if there
are three sets of different types) is called counterpoint.
An abstract example of counterpoint can be seen in fig. 16. There
are two equal systems, seen simultaneously: the white squares and the
darker circles.
Fig. 17 shows Raphaels School of Athens, both whole (at the bot-
tom) and in a computerized separation. The separation makes it
apparent that the artist has composed this work as counterpoint: the
frieze of figures is constructed from his usual ovals, whereas the archi-
tecture is made of straight lines and blocks. How beautifully they play
against each other! The Alma-Tadema (fig. 18) is similar: swirling lines
(the two women) are presented against a counterpoint of massive
straight blocks (the architecture).
The Maxfield Parrish mural (fig. 19) is an example of triple coun-
terpoint. Like the Raphael and the Alma-Tadema cited above, this
mural plays a frieze of figures (created from organic, frenetic, curved-
line constructs) against a symmetrical, straight-line architecture. Then,
Parrish brings in a third set of elements, with its own type of organic
curves: the trees and sky, which are seen through the arches. Note how
the columnular aspect of the woman in blue, seen in profile, half-way
between the vertical centreline and the left edge of the painting, har-
monizes the figural set with the architectural set, by blatant repetition.
The colour composition is also contrapuntal, albeit double, rather than
triple. The figure set and the architectural set are combined as one, in
a brown-and-red colour chord, while the landscape set is blue-and-
green. Note again how our woman-in-blue unifies the two, beautifully.
Coxxox Pv.c1icv ix Pic1ovi.i Coxvosi1iox
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figure 16
2006 Michael John Angel
figure 17
figure 18
figure 19
ssxxv1vs .ssxxv1vs
We have learned that the main element, the dominant, is usually placed
somewhere on the vertical centreline. But how should the ancillary ele-
ments be placed? There are three types of arrangement: symmetrical,
asymmetrical and asymmetrically symmetrical.
Fig. 20 is an example of pure symmetry. The main subject is placed
on the centrelines and the ancillary elements are distributed exactly
equally on either side: whatever is added on the left is mirrored on the
right and vice versa. Symmetry was much favoured in the Middle Ages
and during the Early Renaissance. It is also a favourite with the
Symbolists, as this exact central placement and this exact mirroring is
unnatural and immediately creates a sense of otherworldliness, or of
dreams.
The danger with pure symmetry is that it very quickly becomes
tedious when used in a work, such as an easel painting, that is small
enough to be seen all at once. In a large work, such as in a mural, or in
architecture, where the composition is carried in the memory, the sim-
plicity of symmetry is a positive factor, rather than a bore.
Elements can also be balanced asymmetrically. A large, central ele-
ment, or group of elements, can be
balanced by a small mass, placed
away from the centre, near the
frame (fig. 21). Figs. 22 and 23
show two examples, by Corot and
by Friant respectively, wherein a
large, dark mass at the right is
balanced by a much smaller dark
mass over to the left.
Cu.v1vv Oxv: Fivs1 Pvixcivivs
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2006 Michael John Angel
figure 20
figure 21
figure 22 figure 23
Fig. 24, Vojtech Hynaiss The Judgement of Paris, is one of my favour-
ites. Look how the artist has given the figure of Paris, off to the left,
extra weight by playing up the colour of his Pythian cap, which helps
him to balance the figures and landscape at the right. This sense of bal-
ance is important to the viewer; human beings are immensely uncom-
fortable when confronted by a lack of equilibrium. Notice, in the
black-and-white version (fig. 24a), how the dominant changes when
the red of the cap is removed; the attention is held by the nude god-
desses at the centre and they become the element of greatest contrast
nearest the centre. The artistical balance behaves very much like a
weigh-scale: the further away from the centre the smaller mass is
placed, the larger the apparent weight that it can balance (fig. 25).
The third type of arrangement is asymmetrical symmetry and is
a type used often by artists it is, in my opinion, the most interesting.
As an example, let us look at a Raphael compositional sketch (fig. 26).
The main subject, the Madonna, is placed on the vertical centreline, as
we would expect. To the right of her, almost sitting on her knee, is the
baby Jesus and to the left is another baby, the infant St. John the
Baptist. However, St. John is not placed perfectly symmetrically, but
asymmetrically: he is lower. This is true too of the landscape behind
the Virgins head whatever happens on the right is repeated on the
left, but with variations: the trees on the right are smaller and more
plentiful, the trees on the left are larger and fewer, etc., etc. This sketch
has been composed so well, that we mistake it at first for Naturalism;
it is only after some minutes that we become aware of the formal sym-
metry. Many paintings are designed this way.
A more obvious example of asymmetrical symmetry is Maxfield
Parrishs mural, Old King Cole, in the Hotel Knickerbocker (fig. 27).
Coxxox Pv.c1icv ix Pic1ovi.i Coxvosi1iox
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2006 Michael John Angel
figure 26
figure 24
figure 24a
figure 25
The king is in the centre and is flanked by two jesters, one on each side.
But the one on the left leans towards the king, while the one on the
right stands up and twists away. The two boys, who sit at the kings feet
are likewise variations on a theme, as are the two guards, halfway
between the centre and the edges of the painting. On the far left is a
beautifully designed grouping of three adults, who are momentarily
static and bowing, while at the far right is the group which balances
these three, but which consists of only two people, a man and a boy,
who walk in from the side. Behind all these, we see a fairyland land-
scape, with its trees that rush in fromthe right, while the castle, moun-
tain and clouds dream away asymmetrically, on the left. Between the
landscape and the figures, we see perfectly symmetrical architecture.
Kenyon Coxs The Sciences (fig. 29), a mural painted for the Library
of Congress, is the same kind of thing, although simpler. Fig. 28 fur-
ther illustrates the idea, using a single figure on the left to play against
a whole group on the right.
This asymmetrical symmetry is, in fact, based on an observation of
nature; all natural things grow under what seems to be a geometrical
Cu.v1vv Oxv: Fivs1 Pvixcivivs
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2006 Michael John Angel
figure 28
figure 27
figure 29
imperative. However, they do this with the most marvelous apparent
insouciance. The leaf in fig. 30 is obviously symmetrical, what happens
on the left is mirrored on the right, but the mirroring is so free, so
replete with variations, that the viewer is not bored, even for a
moment. The leaf also makes us aware of the arrangement of circles
that underlie its form. The diagram at the bottom right of fig. 30 shows
this arrangement in a strictly geometrical way and we are immediately
aware of how tedious such a diagram is, when compared to the leaf
itself. So, it is not the geometrical structure alone that creates the beau-
ty, but the verve and freedom with which the geometrical structure is
made manifest.
This free-seeming presentation of a geometrical imperative is
found throughout nature. A flower takes a single, simple design ele-
ment (a petal) and repeats it in a simple, easily readable pattern, but
does this in such a way that the appearance is of an asymmetry of form
and spacing (figs. 31 and 32). Leaves are impelled to grow in simple,
specific arrangements, such as in pairs across the stem, which alternate
their orientation such that any given pair grows at right angles to the
pair below it; or, a second example, in a spiraling arrangement, such
that every fourth leaf is directly above the first. A further imperative is
that the leaves become progressively smaller as they position them-
selves further and further away from the roots. These strict governing
principles are carried out in such a way that the observed result is one
of staggering beauty. The asymmetrical way in which the leaves seem
to mass themselves, the negative spaces created by such massing and
the play of colour and shadow are truly lovely. And seem potentially
infinite (fig. 33). We have a lot to learn from nature.
Before closing this chapter, let us take a brief look at the situation
wherein the main subject of the narrative is off-centre.
We have already seen some examples of this, in the section on true
asymmetry. The smaller part, which is off to one side and which bal-
ances the larger, is often such an attention-getter that it may be used as
the focus (fig. 22). The success of this depends on the strong contrast
inherent in the smaller element (if the contrast were not strong, the
smaller element would not be great enough to balance the larger); so,
this kind of off-centre situation is just an extreme case of greater con-
trast dominating over a weak-contrast centre (see the top of page 2).
The rule here, then, is to not place any kind of strong contrast near the
centre if you want the off-centre contrast to dominate. You must also
not place a strong-contrast element on the opposite side of the paint-
ing from your off-centre subject. This would result in the viewers
Coxxox Pv.c1icv ix Pic1ovi.i Coxvosi1iox
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2006 Michael John Angel
figure 31
figure 32
figure 30
attention staying in the middle, caught, as it would be, in the tension
between the two high-contrast elements.
The Giotto Marriage at Cana (fig. 34) is different, however. Our
attention goes straight away to the bride in the centre, then, attracted
by her halo, we notice St. Mary. It is only after a little meandering that
we are pulled to the halo at the far left and discover Christ. This in-the-
sidelines placement suits the narrative: the marriage feast at Cana
occurs before Jesus begins his mission. Mine hour is not yet come, he
says. It is not until the end of the feast that he performs his first mira-
cle and is revealed.
A similar thing happens in Caravaggios Calling of St. Matthew (fig.
35). We are first attracted to the two young men in the middle; ie., the
area of greatest contrast nearest the centre, then, made curious by their
obvious agitation, we follow the direction of their gaze and find the
two figures off to the right. We are suddenly startled to realize that one
of them is Christ (we notice his halo, almost lost in the dark back-
ground), who, rather spookily, raises his arm and indicates Levi (soon
to become St. Matthew).
Our attention goes back to the five men, grouped around the table,
and we see Levi, whose finger indicates himself and whose arm paral-
lels that of Jesus. We now stay with this group, excepting occasional
forays back to Christ and St. Peter (and, once in a while, to the win-
dow) for relief, and we discover the various compositional relation-
ships between its members (see Chapter 2, The Principles of Grouping).
The strong value contrasts in this central group show it to be the dom-
inant; the story focuses on the men and their reactions, as Christ sud-
denly manifests himself out of the spiritual darkness.
Cu.v1vv Oxv: Fivs1 Pvixcivivs
II
2006 Michael John Angel
figure 34 figure 35
figure 33
figure 22
Exercises
Chapter I
Please note: although they do not specifically state it, the follow-
ing exercises must be created using the principles of dominance and
placement (balance) learned in Chapter I.
1. Make five construct tracings of five paintings two simple figure
compositions (i.e., one, two or three people: portrait or any other
type) and three still lifes that show how the paintings were con-
structed using constructs that create a unified system, such as we
see in figs. 1.5 to 1.8. These paintings must be by at least three dif-
ferent painters.
2. Compose two of your own one simple figure composition (one,
two or three people: portrait or any other type) and one still life
based on life, or on photographs taken from life. These must employ
a unifying construct type, without anomaly, and be presented in
construct form.
3. Make three construct tracings, from three paintings (any subject),
which show the use of anomaly, as in figs. 1.10 to 1.15.
4. Compose three examples of your own (one each of landscape, still
life and portrait), using anomaly as in 3, above. These too must be
presented in construct form.
Exercises in counterpoint and in the various types of symmetry, all
of which require work with groups, will be given in later chapters.