Composition Types

In trying to find good compositions using all of the various techniques, like Compositional weight, Focal Points, Contrast, etc, you tend to come across the same general sorts of compositions again and again. And while we all want to make innovative stuff, there’s nothing wrong with the foundation of our compositions to be based on tried and true formulas. After all, the reason they work is because the eye and brain process visuals in a specific way, and these sorts of rules have been proven to work well with the human brain for thousands of years. So lets go through a bunch of the more common types of compositions, and hopefully these will help explain some of your own compositions, why they work or why they don’t, and inspire you to try using them as the basis for new work. Here’s two great resources on this subject: