Composition -Jesper

Ejsing

To be honest I do not know anything about composition: I have had no training or teaching about it and never understood the Golden Section. What I had to do is go by instinct or what feels right and in that way I have found some principles that works and creates an ease and clarity in my paintings. It is all about making the image clear and easy to read. If too many lines confuses the directions in the image and point this way and that way the eye do not know where to look, doesnt know what is important. The other thing I started doing is finding ways to frame what is important in the image. (It sounds so nave and simple that I feel retarded to exploit it) The frame helps to cut off the not-so-important from the very-important. The framing lines circles in the focal points and simplifies the whole. My first example is 2 sketches for the same cover. The first version has lines all over the place. The figure is not framed, the sword is pointing the right way towards the figure, but the rest is not consistent. The second version is overly simple in the way the spear, swords and faces and everything frames the main figure with arrow like lines. Here the spear points are actually arrows pointing to where I need you to look. Doesnt get simpler than that. The rider functions as a stopper for all the action lines. Here are some sketches that I have found exemplify my tricks :

1. This is the clearest I've got. The dragon creates a circle around the figure, ending in a face those points toward him. The magical barrier is a repeated circle shape enhancing the framing composition. 2. All the spider limbs points inward to the centre, the hair stripes points up toward the face. The centred image helps a lot to create calmness. The swords are the only messy/living lines in the composition. 3. Hair crown and arms with the billowing cloth all points toward the face. The bulky spider body creates a bowl-like shape that frames the figure. 4. All lines points toward the head. The volcano eruption is the calm straight line creating an ease/contrast to the more dynamic shaped lines of the dragon body. 5. Since I had a very little main figure in this image I had to make the 2 giants frame him by hulking over him. The arm of the giant to the right circles in the knight, as do the left giant by closing of the background with its body silhouette. The triangled shape of the snowy cliff pints up, like an arrow to the main figure. 6. This is almost the same as number 5. The whole composition is build up around framing circular shapes that closes around the main figure and his face. The cloak and the arm and the spear points toward the knight and his face. Most, if not all, of these compositional elements are something that evolves during the sketching process. It doesnt start by me saying I want to do a circular shaped cover this time. It is something that I catch when I see it, and enhance when I discover. But knowing about it (a gut feeling standing on the shoulders of thousands of errors) helps me to spot the good compositional lines when the opportunity presents itself. Posted by Ejsing

Focal Points -Jesper Ejsing

Thinking back on Illuxcon I realize that I said the same thing to everyone approaching me with a portfolio or asking me to review their artwork. Maybe it is because it is the one thing I got right, or maybe it is because it is something you can apply to almost every illustrative painting. Anyway; the thing is Focal Point.

Every illustration has an area where I want you to look first; a place that first of all, should draw the eye. That is the focal point. To me it is almost always the face of the hero or the main figure. That point should, in every way, be the brightest, the most detailed, the most saturated, the most contrast full and the place where all the compositional elements are pointing toward.

Like ripples in water, the further you move away from the focal point, you drain away color, detail and so on. In the farthest area away from the focal point the painting should seem almost greyish and on focused to not draw any attention at all. If not, the reading of the painting becomes confused and the eye starts to wander aimlessly around not knowing in which order to understand what it is seeing.

This image is an illustration called Rune Claw Bear from Magic the Gathering. To show what I mean I have circled in the area of interest, the focal point, and added the ripples. The tools you can use for emphasizing the focal point are these:

Texture: I try to add the most detailed strokes in the face and shoulder of the bear. The tongue is very detailed and the strokes are fine. Compare the rough and broad brush strokes in the cliffs or the stomach. In using different size of brushes I automatically get the texture difference I need.

Contrast: I added the strongest rim light to the face and the shoulder. The black nose vs. the white light, the light teeth vs. the black hole of the mouth are sharp contrasts that makes this area look more important. It is the same rim light that is on the cliff behind his right claw, but I sucked out the light of it making the contrast much less obvious. Imagine what I white rim light would have done out there in the background?

Everything but the main figure has no super dark or black in it. It is all kept in less contrast to make it disappear.

Saturation: I used orange/reddish brown around the focal point: yellow and white for the light. The rest of the Bear is more dark brown. For every ripple I go a bit darker and less saturated. Especially in the background you can see it almost looks like there is a filter of more and greyer being put in front of the lens.

Brightness: The lightest value will also keep the eye focused. That being said I think I needed a light source within the frame and added the sun shining through the trunks. It is a second focal point, but I consciously put it close to the face to even up. But still I kept the brightest part of the bear to the top and the face.

Composition: I used the trunks and the cliffs as a frame for the figure. The tall vertical threes create an ease that makes the dynamic shapes of the bear stand out: Also the sticks from the trunks points toward the focal point, the skeletal bones do the same. Even the arms of the bear points toward the face.

You can easily create a fantastic painting without getting every one of these points right. In multiple figure paintings you need to soften up a lot of the rules, but still, knowing what these elements do and how to play them, is a key to making a successful told story. And every painting is a story. (Even a little tiny story of a Bear saying RAHHHHg, my kill. Stay away) Posted by Ejsing