Artistic Advice: The Layout of Drawings

A very important part of producing a picture, is the layout. This means creating a pleasing effect for the eye of the viewer, by placing the main objects where they are either best seen, or where they contribute to a graphic story.

A foreground tree placed, with an overhanging branch straddling the upper portion of the work, can help to guide the eye to that important, distant mountain top. And as a general rule the main subject shouldn’t be placed in a central position, which can be boring for the viewer. Place it a little to one side or the other and a subconscious feeling of excitement is created.

There is a very old adage, called the “one third rule” which states that your canvas should be divided into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, with the main items placed approximately on those lines. In a landscape, the horizon would be drawn either one third down from the top or one third up from the bottom. One third down gives good proportions for a landscape comprising mainly of ground, with just the upper third sky, which is of minor importance, but place the horizon on the lower third line for a glorious sunset, where the foreground itself is not and might even be little more than a black silhouette, emphasising the richness of the sky.

Attached to this article is a very basic line drawing, showing the ‘third rule’ being used in its most extreme form, with everything possible conforming to the rule. The tree and cottage roof are both placed on the two vertical thirds, with even the pathway adhering to the right third line, while the horizon, and the foreground behind which the cottage hides, both follow the horizontal thirds. I’ve also included the tree branch framing the top, as I mentioned at the beginning of the article, so this is a picture that has everything!!

The ‘one third rule’ is by no means hard and fast. Like most rules in art, it is really only intended as a guide, with the artist using his/her judgment to vary the principal as required. But it can be very helpful to someone just beginning in art, until they gain more confidence to try something different.

I think the most important mistakes to avoid are first, making the main image too small in relation to the overall size of the picture, unless the subject calls for it. For instance you might paint another of the glorious sunsets described above, with the sun just touching the surface of a bronze sea and place the tiny figure of a person, silhouetted directly in front of the sun. You’d want to make that figure small, despite its importance in the picture, to emphasise the size of the sun! The second mistake is to copy what you see in front of you exactly, without adjustment! Remember, it’s your painting and you can put everything just where you want to – you like the view in front of you, but that damned tree is right in the way just there. Well, move it, or even leave it out altogether! The only time you need to be absolutely accurate with the placing of parts is when you produce a portrait of some person – an eye three millimeters out of position can make a face look completely different and not like the subject at all!

I hope these suggestions are of help to you, and that is all they are intended to be. I’m sure you will very soon have gained enough confidence to go anywhere you want to with your art, and I wish you the very best of luck with it, and the very greatest pleasure!