Composition (visual arts)
Composition is the arrangement of visual elements within an artwork. It guides attention and shapes how forms, space, and meaning relate.
Line (visual arts): A mark or boundary that guides the eye, defines form, or divides pictorial space. Lines establish direction, edges, and paths through an artwork.
Visual hierarchy: The ordering of visual elements by their relative prominence and importance. Hierarchy shows how size, contrast, and placement make some elements command attention.
The Last Supper (Leonardo): Leonardo da Vinci's mural depicting Jesus's final meal with his disciples, painted in Milan in the late fifteenth century. Its perspective and grouped figures direct attention toward Christ at the center.
Symmetry: A correspondence of parts across an axis or around a center. Symmetry offers a stable arrangement against the tensions of asymmetrical composition.
Cinematography: The art and practice of creating moving images through camera work, lighting, and framing. Film extends composition through camera movement, duration, and changing frames.
Shape: A two-dimensional enclosed area defined by boundaries such as lines, color, or contrast. Shapes form the major visual masses that composition balances.
Balance (visual arts): The distribution of visual weight across an artwork, producing a sense of equilibrium or tension. Balance describes how visual forces are distributed across the composition.
Las Meninas: A 1656 painting by Diego Velázquez depicting members of the Spanish royal court in a complex studio scene. Mirrors, glances, and layered viewpoints make the arrangement part of the subject.
Asymmetry: A lack of exact correspondence between parts on opposite sides of an axis or center. Asymmetry can balance unequal forms without mirroring their placement.
Photography: The practice of producing images by recording light, usually with a camera. Photographers compose through framing, viewpoint, timing, and control of the scene.