Any how-to-composition books out there that are notable?

[Marlo]

I'm curious if there's any out there? My composition is so weak.
I mean anything that explain the construction and carry of it.

Would color scheme and lighting also fall into composition?

Thank you for answering to my silly questions.

[arenhaus]

The best one that I know of is "Visual Literacy".

Try an exercise out of it: express things like peace, conflict, congestion, serenity, equality, precariousness, harmony, lightness, danger, etc. using only 4 black squares.


Color and lighting can fall into the realm of composition, of course. Value composition is an important component of any remotely realistic picture.

[Arshes Nei]

http://www.mollybang.com/Pages/picture.html

http://amzn.com/1581809247

[dpaint]

The best book on composition is the composition of outdoor painting by Edgar Payne. It is written for landscape painters but all the composition techniques can be applied to any type of painting. Its a small and expensive book (around 50 bucks) and the writing is very dense but worth the effort.
Here is a page sample

[Cider]

Harold Speed had a lot to say about composition in his drawing book.

[JeffX99]

"Drawing Scenery: Landscapes and Seascapes" by Jack Hamm. Inexpensive and great for getting started thinking about composition.

[Parka81]

Try this one, it's quite good.


http://parkablogs.com/content/book-r...y-improve-your

And this one if you can find it


http://parkablogs.com/content/book-r...l-storytellers

It will be good if you buy a sketchbook and start drawing outdoors to practice your composition.

[JeffX99]

Yes color and lighting fall under composition as well. Composition can be thought of as the overall design, placement, emphasis of every element, passage, or even brushstrokes of the image. Think of it like a symphony...where the cymbals crash or the flutes make a statement...all part of the composition of the piece.

In simpler terms however, composition refers more to the structure and arrangement of the shapes and elements of the scene. In this sense composition can be thought of as the foundation and load bearing structure the painting is built around.

[Arshes Nei]

Haha Parka didn't click on my links did he?

[Chris Bennett]

The best book on composition is the composition of outdoor painting by Edgar Payne. It is written for landscape painters but all the composition techniques can be applied to any type of painting. Its a small and expensive book (around 50 bucks) and the writing is very dense but worth the effort.
Here is a page sample

They are great little drawings dpaint, and if the book is full of those it will be a terrific help just looking at those drawings - expressive little things that condense their effect beautifully.

The only thing I notice, admittedly based on seeing only this page, is that it is merely naming the effects and not explaining what their function is as emotional compositional language.

[dpaint]

They are great little drawings dpaint, and if the book is full of those it will be a terrific help just looking at those drawings - expressive little things that condense their effect beautifully.

The only thing I notice, admittedly based on seeing only this page, is that it is merely naming the effects and not explaining what their function is as emotional compositional language.

Chris,

Yeah that is a good point. Payne addresses the idea of emotions and quality and unity but draws no direct one to one relationship between a defined emotional response to a certain composition.
This is from the book

[JeffX99]

Yeah - Payne's book is a must have for landscape painters but needs a complete revision, if for no other resaon than to align the illustrations with the text. But yeah...it's golden really.

Another great landscape painter, and the Grandfather of wildlife art in America is Carl Runguis. Extremely subtle and sophisticated sense of composition...usually anyway (sometimes a little too obvious in his master works). Unfortunately his approach and ideas about composition are scattered across 3-4 books...the best which is long out of print and had a very limited number produced.

Here's a nifty little presentation...an animated look at a few principles of composition...and if you search around even more info on composition to be found:
Carl Rungius composition principles.

Edit: Meant to include this shot of Rungius at the easel:

[Kamber Parrk]

Getting to be a big fan of Runguis!

Thanks for the post Jeff!