This blog is about how to incorporate the Golden Ratio into your compositions quickly, without the use of a calculator; after all who has time to figure out how much 36 x 0.618 is when you are out there in the fresh air getting into the creative groove. The numbered indexes correspond to plates in the composite image below.
- The gold boxes with dotted lines in the image below represent centered “golden canvases” with height and width corresponding to the Golden ratio. There is one oriented vertically and one horizontally. The dotted lines represent the Golden mean, possible places to divide the canvas in a manner that is pleasing according to the Golden ratio (1 to 1.618…). This image has been created with the assistance of a calculator and is provided to show that the trick that follows does work very well.
- This trick illustrated will work on any arbitrarily dimensioned rectangular canvas. You draw a line splitting the canvas in half and then in half again along the horizontal and vertical dimensions. You may want to use a light color and hue of the medium you are working in so you don’t have to spend time erasing. In the illustration, the black lines represent these divisions.
- If you place a dot in the direct center of the four center boxes created by dividing the canvas you will arrive at potential places where the focal point should be. The red dots represent these possible focal point locations.
- In the illustration below notice how close the dots are to the intersections of our vertically and horizontally oriented golden means. No calculator is required to incorporate the Golden Mean into your compositions. You really can just eyeball it, figure out where your focal points should be and pick one. One of these locations will result in a focal point that is most pleasing to the eye if the rest of the composition supports it.
- A Focal point is really the only thing that can flow outward off the composition, like a star. In general the rest of the composition should draw you to the focal point. Realize that lines intersecting where the potential focal points will divide the canvas according to the golden ratio; these are the bold blue lines in the illustration below. The light blue shadings represent two possible ways of dividing the canvas, but you could just as easily choose another one of the means.
- The last image is a simple illustration based on the principles just discussed.
Illustrated Lesson: How to Quickly Apply Golden Ratio to Composition
Yours in art – Jake
Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!