#composition tutorial

1) Perspective.

The flat angle of the background doesn’t frame the characters, doesn’t lead the eye to what should be the focus (Magnus pulling Jenkins’ bow tie) and also doesn’t allow for enough depth to accurately show the shape and size of the interior. Here’s where a one point perspective could have made all the difference. 

2) Placement of the figures. 

There’s no clear focus in this picture and a big part of the problem is that all four characters are basically at an equal distance from the viewer. By placing Taako and Merle in the foreground and Magnus and Tom Bodette in the middle ground, it’s clearer that they’re actually interacting in pairs, and also which pair we’re supposed to give most of our attention to.

3) Values.

It’s a little hard to understand what’s happening in this picture and that’s because it’s not taking enough advantage of contrasting values to group areas together and show what’s important by making it stand out. (This is definitely an example of a piece - and there’s many of them - where I just refused to think in black and white and instead barrelled ahead as if I was planning to bring it all together with colour - don’t ask me why! Old habits die hard.) A good rule of thumb is to group objects in the foreground using one value, which then contrasts with a very different value for the background (and perhaps a third for the middle ground). The more contrast in an area, the more it will stand out.

This advice is just as important for pieces in full colour and I would really recommend making a value sketch before picking out colours - the extra elements you add to a piece are only as strong as the foundation they’re resting on. I’d be happy to make a little tutorial on value sketches if there’s interest!

It’s really exciting to see how far I’ve developed when it comes to composition and I’m so eager to learn more. K’s criticism has helped immensely and I’ve often pushed myself to pick ideas I felt were beyond my technical reach. Some of the drawings from TIZ I’m proudest of didn’t look so good to me even as I finished them and that’s why I’m proud - I went for something complicated and sticking the landing was less important than taking that risk!

In addition to the three things I discussed above, here are some questions I like to ask to help myself along the way:

If I zoom out/almost close my eyes, can I still make out what the piece is meant to portray? Is the silhouette(s) instantly clear?

Do the lines/shapes/gestures lead the eye towards the important part(s) of the piece?

Am I using the canvas to its fullest? If an area looks empty, is that emptiness saying something or have I just made a badly balanced composition? (Same with a “noisy” area - am I afraid to let the illustration breathe?)

Can I push the contrasts further? Contrast in values, in shapes and sizes, in detail/noise vs pure black or white?

What does the perspective do for the tone and would another angle work better? (I generally play it safe with perspective for TIZ since the classic children’s book illustration vibe I’m going for is usually quite restrained, but I still try to experiment with my initial sketches.)