2020 Topic 18 Rule Of Thirds With ESA (by Nikki Acton)

  2020 Topic 18: Geometric

Whilst it's true that art can be completely random, many artists do employ design principles in their work. If you find a piece of art pleasing, you can often trace some elements of design on it and Nikki has given us a great look at one of those rules today. The contrast of the black border and beautifully executed design starts our Geometric topic off perfectly ~ Keren.

Hi everyone, Nikki here today (Addicted to Art) with you today, sharing my geometric journal page.

One of the simplest 'rules' of composition is the rule of thirds which I have adopted here. By dividing the canvas/photo/page into thirds, you don't need to actually draw the lines like I have Frequently the most pleasing composition is where the points of interest are at the cross section of these lines.

I did start by lightly drawing in pencil lines at one third from the left and the bottom. I wanted to create a light to dark with my paints so needed a guide! I started around the cross over of the lines with the yellows and worked my way out to the darker reds. As Fresco acrylics dry quickly I added a little Satin Glaze to add time for blending.  I used Banana, Haystack, Terracotta, Tango and Claret Fresco Acrylic Paints.

The blending doesn't need to be perfect as I added some stamping and stencilling. The stencil is the brickwork from PS016 (Emma Godfrey) and background stamps include the square grid stamp from ESA01 (Seth Apter) and dots from ECF04 (Courtney Franich).

The focal point is from one of Seth Apter's earliest PaperArtsy sets - ESA03. I stamped on some extra card that I painted with the same colours. This card was also used for the strips  that I have used.

I mounted my 6inch square onto black card (well in my black journal) adding a few extra bits of card to the edges of the page to balance the composition.

I added the lines back in at my one third from left and base using a Stabilo All pencil and smudged it lightly. I always like to think about composition in my artwork, although I don't always get it right! The rules of thirds is so simple; it doesn't need to be quite as strict and constructed as I have done here, but try it - it works!

Nikki x

Blog: Addicted to Art

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