The Subconscious Neglect of Composition : 5 Observations

To a viewer when composition works to its potential it is invisible and yet penetrating.  It works on our subconscious and is usually the thing we “can’t put our finger on” that we like (or dislike) so much about a painting.  Other times it can be blatantly in our face but we still usually don’t attribute things to composition unless it is explicitly referred to.  Composition is just ambiguously there and every painting would fall apart without it.

I am often flipping through tutorials on painting these days and I have found a disturbing pattern; I skip over anything I come across that refers to composition.  In spotting this pattern I started to think more about composition and how it was working (or not working as the case may be) in my recent paintings.  Here are 5 observations on composition to bring it back to the front of my brain:

1)  Composition is boring and not boring.

Composition tutorials can seem boring but don’t be deceived.  All those mathematical overlays and golden spirals make it seem academic and so overly serious but there is more to it than figuring out where to arrange geometric shapes.  In fact these overlays that we see so much on top of classical paintings really obscure the fact that composition is not a standard and has no inherent beauty that can simply be imposed on an artwork.

2)  Composition cannot be taught.

The intuitive aspects of composition can’t be overemphasized and requires us to highlight the overlooked fact that intuition is biological in essence.  Composition is one of those things that isn’t right or wrong in the way that color or line can be quantified and compared to represent something.  Yet we cannot deny that we find certain arrangements of things more soothing and appealing.  This does not however translate to “good” or “correct” composition.  How we arrange things within the borders of a canvas is purely up to our own tastes, preferences and perhaps most importantly our own intentions.

3)  Composition is part of the balancing triad.

Composition completes the balancing act of line and color in very powerful ways but we tend to forget to use it.  In the end we are making interesting whole paintings and usually we rely on line and color to do this.  I have always felt if you nail the color or the drawing then you have a great piece.  Recently however Ive realized that if you nail the composition you can have less then stellar line and color choices but still have a great painting.  If something is not working with any one of the three then one of the others can balance the load.

4)  Composition still has room for the avant-garde.

Composition has the most room left to experiment and explore as artists.  There is that nagging part of art that reminds us it has pretty much all been done before and we are simply on a personal journey at this point.  No one is really breaking new ground because the last 70 years of art have been spent analyzing, exploring and bucking the norm.  Composition however is where a lot can still be challenged.  This is a testament to how powerful composition is to our experience of a work, even more so than color and line.  We can handle all kinds of radical color and line applications these days but composition can still make many of us dismiss a work without giving it a chance if it is too radical.

5)  Composition is an infinite reset button.

When we experience composition it is often after we have had a problem with a painting that needs to be reconsidered.  This means we are often visiting composition as the problem instead of as the foundation which is much more useful.  Consideration of composition is also what usually keeps us a bit longer from actually jumping in to a painting since to use it properly requires preplanning and a lot of sketching to test possibilities.  Exploring compositions creates more work for us but it also creates better results for us.  The difference from one test sketch to another is pretty amazing in terms of compositional evolution, it happens fast and usually in large jumps.

Conclusion

Given all of this it becomes clear why composition is often left as an afterthought, its just so vast and without a standard of comprehension.  This is intimidating but also exciting as it reveals composition as the last untapped depth in the ocean of painting; want to be a better artist? experiment with your compositions.  It also means composition is one of the first places to look for solutions to pictorial problems; not sure how to fix something? play with the composition.

Be well

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