Using The Rules Of Good Design

Well, excellent composition, as the work has elements that go off the edges, but the the gaze of the cat and dog automatically bring the view back to the center.

Thanks, Keevin for getting the ball rolling!

all I see is a cat in a monochromatic background….lol

:::smacking Diana::::::

OMG, you are the first girl to get one of my virtual smacks! lol

Marlene. Yesterday, I started following Cyhthia (yikes! sounds like I'm a stalker).

I 'liked' and 'favorited' many of her intriguingly inventive, beautifully designed, and wondrously strange pieces. Her artwork just 'clicked' with my own sensibilities; they drew me in, especially this one:

The drapery in the photo frames the picture nicely. The cat in the window draws the attention downward to the right, creating a nice eyeflow, with the books finishing it out at the bottom. All in all, very good placement of subjects. Very nice composition!

lol, i like this piece alot Marlene, its the interaction between the cats (im not a huge cat fan in real life) that is captivating, this giving us the interaction between 2 worlds, the semi chaotic ordered books of knowledge and the desolate looking, bricked up world outside; the order of the square framed window cells works well against the semimdisorder of the books... and the muted colours look makes it tranquil, the introvert in his or her realm comes across well without ever noticing their real presence...
oh and the birds perched out of reach adds intrigue and detail. ps i didnt see the composition details as i dont know these rules

and Patrick, you know why they drew you in.....there's just no getting around knowing what you are doing design-wise, though many will claim they 'ignore' the rules.
I am always baffled how one can ignore what one has yet to learn......


Ok, NOW we are off and running!
Keep posting!!

Thanks Marlene! This is so flattering. I do spend a lot of time on composition.

Diana's comment is totally valid. The image is very low saturation on purpose. It's about being introverted. I wanted it to be soft and quiet and gentle in that room.


Patrick, that image is a visual commentary on how my medium works. Everything is like a stage set.

Diana was kidding...you missed the 'lol.'
Talking about color....those teensy tweaks f color...in the irises, a rosy partial curve on the wall outside, the wash of blue ......all stellar, Cynthia...and all purposeful!
Cynthia, this piece is killing me....I just noticed that rosy curve is the yin to the mousehole yang!
I must order this!

I love it! The attention to detail is incredible, right down to the little birds. I think you see the colour the more you look at it, it starts to deepen.

I Iiked this one so much I bought it when she placed it on the site

The main design element is not the cat, but the stack of books under the cat. Brings the eye back to center
each time.

Great work.

Dave

The design elements I am referring to are the rules of good design. ;)
David, are you referring to the center of interest?

You're the first person to pick up the reflection of the mousehole shape and the sign outside. It's also a visual stepping stone to the birds. cup: irises: sign: birds, across the wire, down to the cat...

I was lucky, Cynthia...had composition drummed into me untli it became automatic ;)
Love your groups of odd numbers.....

Marlene,

The books stacked up with a top corner under the cat bring the eye back to somewhat the center. Back into
the middle of the image.

Dave

Nobody is talking about the dog's head dead center!!
Ya know why that works?
She placed the cat and birds to create a triangle and the cat, dog and mouse, yet another triangle...these triangles offset the bullseye.
BRILLIANT-

This image should be in every art education book.

The light of the sun's rays point to the center of interest on the edges of the books. Although the eye sees a pattern - the books "chaotic" arrangement creates visual energy and interest, & holds you there briefly.
The edges of the books point directly back towards the dog outside. The arc of the cat (out of the ray's highlights) sitting on the books creates a stop from the eye wanting to wander up and out to follow the lines of the wire.
It all creates a visual swirl .

Janine, thanks for mentioning the play of light, the visual energy and the need for a place to rest in an image such as this one with so much going on...I feel like a kid in a candy shop!

Marlene is telling all my secrets. :-)
I feel naked, somehow.

The odd numbers thing, Marlene? Humans are pattern finders, even at minute levels. If you create a syncopated visual rhythm by using a lot of groups of odd numbers and then introducing relationships or visual pairs in even numbers (cat/dog) (cup/magnifying glass) (mouse/mousehole) (irises/potted plant). You can drive people around in your image almost as if you were telling them what to look at next. But it's their natural visual exploration just doing it's thing. Moving from beat to beat to beat.

As you know, this works with non representational art too. you can set up groups of colors, or brushstrokes. Doesn't have to be items, necessarily.

Because it's exploiting a natural penchant for pattern recognition we all have, it's naturally nice to look at. The viewer travels around in there comfortably. That's my goal, anyway.

The linear perspective of the floor boards leading the eye into the frame.

.

Cynthia, thanks for weighing in and for the pattern info..fascinating!
John, feel free to open your own thread on breaking good rules of design. thank you.

Marlene and Arthur commented on the drapery in 'Introvert,' how it's lines are echoed by the wires and the way they 'frame' the vignette, and I think the drapery also works to first draw your eye in at the upper left, and then continue on a circuitous route to Mister Mouse - my name for the cat - down the tall stack, then up toward the irises and veering right in a circular motion, as if targeting the dog, and then, BANG! you're eye follows the dog's line of sight to Mister Mouse again.

Positively brilliant!

The 'drape ploy' reminded me of the pastel below, which I created after Ingres. It also reminded me of many a Vermeer.



Link to the Valpincon Bather: http://www.artofeurope.com/ingres/ing6.htm

Cynthia, I thinks you have the makings of a great set designer for CG film. it looks like you are already there.

Thanks for turning me onto Cynthia, Marlene. And for the discussion. I've learned quite a bit here.


Cynthia: Beautiful work. I am amazed by your talent.

"Mario, How about trying to point out something you like about Cynthia's image. I'll just bet it fits into a category or two that could be considered elements of good design" -Marlene

It's not that I'm trying to be contrarian it's that I don't know a thing about composition and design, of course I was self taught. But at the risk of sounding foolish I'll go along with your request, and see if I can learn this. First and foremost, I like the cat and dog looking at each other, I like the fact that the cat is on the stack of books, I like the setting, the old room with with the aged wood floor and the large window, the lighting. The truth is, I like every thing about this image as a whole. Maybe with sculpture these elements aren't that important? When I make my sculptures I think about three main things, the subject should be interesting, it should have some type of movement if possible and most important I try to have it evoke some type of emotion. Design never enters my mind or maybe it does and I'm not aware of it.

Mario. You definitely design. You just may not be doing it on purpose. I can use this as an example:



The height to width ratio, the fact that the figure is way over on one side of the chair, providing a visual landing spot in that empty space next to him, and that leads my eye up the figure to the rest of the story, which is his addiction spread out on the table before him.

There are different, well... degrees of design. There are classic rules and mechanisms and even tricks (Marlene and I are are clearly design nerds in that sense), and then there is a more organic version, a natural ability or attempt to put flow and interest into an object. It's still design. (sometimes it's bad design, but not in this case) You may not have planned it on purpose, but it's there. If you ever had an interest, you could read about design concepts and try working them into your objects (or try breaking the rules on purpose, which is especially challenging to get right).

No one ever called me a design nerd much less put me in such good company!
TGIF everyone!

Rule of 3rds

Very interesting point of view, I guess I'm organic in design. I thank you both, I'll try to keep this element in mind and see if I can build on it.

Mario, I say this coming from the most sincere place and mean no offense....calling oneself "self taught" CAN mean that on your own, you seek out your education....there's no shortage of it on the internet. ;) Cynthia's comments has so proved.

Point well taken!

I'd like to thank everyone who has participated in this thread so far....and especially to those who may have not commented, but who have read it and paid attention.
Knowing WHY you make certain choices and HOW to make those choices will strengthen the predictability of good work.
Happy Sunday everyone!

In my compositions I like a strong vertical element on a third line, which this has to the right. The center is very powerful and an image can revolve around a center element even if it is not a strong element. In this case it is the dog at the center. This image is about a cat looking at a dog and 2 strong composition positions are used to tell that story against a broader setting. Photographers have less control over composition so to learn great composition I studied great painters. I visited museums and deduced some basic composition types I like and try to use them when I can. I also studied composition. Ultimately I rely on my own sense of balance. The rules are at play but often operating more subtly then a simple intersecton of lines.

Thanks for contributing, Bradford. You are he perfect example of what 'self taught' means...THAT will be my next topic for a thread. ;)

Cynthia....it came yesterday! I am in love...it is a Valentine gift for my granddaughter who is taking he first class in digital art and is an animal lover.
As she grows as an artist, I am sure she will be making discoveries regularly. ;)

Self taught also applies to the formally trained as well since the learning process is perpetual, correct? It certainly doesn't stop with your degree, Marlene.

Vanessa, I think that's a whole nuther topic.
Self taught implies that you did not go the formal route with your art education.
But, yes, we are all in learning mode if we continue to create after formal training.

As a person who educated himself by seeing and doing I really don't much about design rule and composition. I have read some about composition and color usage, but confess that in most cases I have little clue. I just do what come naturally to me.

Look at it upside down. It's the same layout as Deviancies' "Last Supper" The dog is the center. The books positioned as the disciples and even the V just off center.

Marlene,
Yes, that's the implication even if it connotes something else these days.

Wow. You have an eye, Darrel.

David, yes, somehow that happens too. I bet you also studied quite a few works form your contemporaries and well known artists you admired, too.

I agree with you Marlene, that this is a beautiful work of art. All of the elements are present: line, shape, value, space, color, texture, form. The thing that immediately caught my attention was the Golden Mean. Starting with the cat atop the book stack it whips around underneath and follows the line of the books, continuing to curl around going up the the drapes and out along the high line wires. Brilliant! If you would rather look at it using the rule of thirds, either way you slice the image horizontal or vertical it has a perfect rule of thirds placement. Amazing! Oh and by the way, the use of the gray (cat, plant pot, floor, drapes, upper wall) all aiding the eye to follow the Golden Mean. All these things draw the eye to that perfect gaze of the gray cat. Just super Wow! Excellent work Cynthia Draper.

PS...Thanks Marlene, for sharing this work of art with us. I would love to see more of this kind of topic on this discussion page.

Yes, it's an inspired topic :)

Leading lines of the floor lead the eye into the pic. And the lines in the window lead to the center.
The PoV is from the observer, making the viewer feel as they're looking into the scene, vp without being a part of it.

The line on the curtain leading out of the frame makes me wonder what is over there.

I have never had any art classes or studied the subject, so have loved reading the comments on this discussion. Lots of concepts I have never thought about. never really understood I think why I like certain artwork - so this has helped me look at it all differently. Now I need to figure out how to use some of these concepts in my own work.

thanks everyone!

I just have to keep saying thanks to everyone for the attention and input to this image. It's one of my most intentional and most complex, but the thing about the last supper is a complete fluke! :)

Marlene thanks so much for the purchase, I hope your granddaughter enjoys it!

I would love to keep these kinds of threads in the forum.....please help keep this one alive in my absence.
I'm off to go get my granddaughter in Phoenix to spend the weekend with us.

This is and has been educational. These are the discussions I want to see her. Talk about art. In some eyes I may be a hack but I keep trying.

Thank you, David.
Cynthia....update on your print....
I gave it to my granddaughter on Valentine's Day and we talked a little bit about digital design ( she just finished her intro course). Her 9 year old eyes spotted the mouse and pointed it out to me....she loved the way the books were stacked. She traced an animal line from the birds down to the mouse.
When it was time to head home after the long weekend, I was collecting up all of her things and she said " Don't forget my cat, dog, 5 birds and the mouse!"

Aw Marlene, that made my day!