Down and Dirty Rules of Composition

Mission at Sunset (incomplete)

I know, this is supposed to be a blog about inspiration and creativity. One of the biggest things I've learned from teaching in the past many years is that you can't really teach someone to be creative. Kind of like being able to lead a horse to water and being frustrated because he won't drink...

What I CAN teach, though, is what to do with the inspiration. Some recent students asked me for a "down and dirty" short course on composition. I came up with these three very simple "rules" for them. Although I firmly believe that all rules were made just to be broken, these guidelines can help the artist have a more successful composition. In order of importance, perhaps...?

1. ALWAYS plan your painting. Do sketches, cut shapes, etc. It's much easier to work out issues before you start to paint than it is to fix misunderstandings later.
2. Plan to place your main idea or center of interest on one of the four intersecting points, using the "rule of thirds" to determine "where."
3. Use "greatest difference" in your focal area -- greatest value change, most intense color, most different texture, most different shape, etc.

That's it. Simple. To keep them in mind while creating, I made an index card with all three points, printed on a bright color, laminated to protect from splatter.