Composition

"composition is the placement or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in a work of art" - (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_(visual_arts))

You could describe composition in many different ways, it comes in many different shapes and sizes, ways and forms, but all of which come back to the main point of form.



Golden Section



So, the first main rule is the "Rule of Thirds" or "Golden Ratio". It affects the ratio (1:1.618) of a picture size (we find this buy placing a grid over the top of an image), as well as the positioning of the main subjects in the image.

The females figure squares up on the left vertical golden "section", while her arm that is higher is right on the upper golden "section".  The elbow extends past it, but the hand comes back to it in the upper part of the painting. This is done on purpose

Its as if your eyes are guided around the image, mine start at the womens shoulders and face (this being the highest contrast.) This is done so your eyes move around the painting smoothly seeing every part of the image without having to cross over another section etc, its more pleasing to the eye and it means you spend longer studying the image.

(above) This number is the aspect ratio putting the grid over the photo shows us this

Here is another Example of Divine proportion or "the golden ratio" notice all (bar one) of the characters are crossing some sort of line, the main focal point also being the the left of the image which are the two characters being hit away, but some could question the "muscle man" being the main focus so this is a good example of it also being very opinionated different eyes see different things!