Y2 - S1 - T15 - Elements Of Game Design - Part 6: Visual Composition

Personally, lately I have been looking at how mathematics can be applied in Art. In terms of visual composition I believe that mathematical shapes and equations can come into Art to make up the images itself. Take the work of Da Vinci for example and look at how he made the Mona Lisa. It was purposely made by using what is known as golden rectangles and when you look at the image with the rectangles overlapping you recognise that the shapes rotate around in a clockwise spiral. 

Golden Rectangles

Mona Lisa - Leonardo Da Vinci - 1503 - 1519

It’s basically one big rectangle with smaller and smaller ones inside; I think it’s a very clever process for working out a composition, being a mathematician and all it gave Da Vinci a way to experiment with applying different shapes to a canvas. There are so many different things you can see in it however, for example it’s a portrait quite simply put and so you can see a central triangle in the composition.

Not just in this but even in his other, most in particular ‘The Last Supper’ there’s lots of what people call ‘sacred geometry’ and hidden meanings behind the paintings, which is where ‘The Da Vinci Code’ comes from I guess. When I look at it I think yes there is a one point perspective in the middle of the image, edges are aligned up to it going outwards as in any perspective drawing. But then it gets to the people and how they are arranged, people have many theories on the image for example what does it incorporating without us know it’s there. I’ve read that he image is split up into 12:6:4:3 ratios where the different elements in the image are split up into different units, such as the windows and walls etc.  Though this is a made up image allowing him to experiment.

The Last Supper - 1495–1498

It’s a really interesting composition though, when I am ready to create a final piece I look at the perspective and ask myself what do I want in the image, for example I don’t just want to place the single vanishing point directly in the center, as I’ve done that before but I don’t think it good to have the main focal point there, so maybe I’ll move it to a different position and use the rule of thirds to gain a better composition. In my War of the Worlds work I basically looked at different shapes and then made orthographic views of the Martian tripods. I did this however by using an 8x8 grid to help me for each one of them. I’d create a rectangle box then create an X shape from corner to corner to allow me to split the box into 4 and then repeat the process again to create an 8x8 grid. This then allowed me to use specific points or coordinates on the grid to mark out where I wanted to place my outline work of the concept and gain perfect symmetry between both sides of the design. From creating a front view first it then helped me to mark out the exact same points on the side view (though it can be done either way) and then I can work out a sense of  depth from it which then can be applied to a perspective view of the design. From gain X and Y coordinates I then must work out the Z axis coordinates which is where it gets confusing but helps towards making a perfectly accurate two point perspective view of the thing itself.

War of the Worlds ideas work. Using the side view I work out how the front view may look matching up the specific points on the 8x8 grid. Good for working out composition.

What I’m basically trying to say is that the placement of objects doesn’t need to be worked out by Artistic judgement; it can be worked out accurately using mathematics and shapes in perspective. When I use to draw at a younger age I knew nothing about perspective and used primarily my Artistic judgement for everything, back in a time when I thought you had to be born good at Art. Now-a-days I like to be more precise about drawing and modelling though there’s not always time for spending ages working out things, so looking at objects in relation to each other is important, when looking at landscapes it’s important to look for the horizon line and your perspective and when looking at even organic forms and characters looking at foreshortening to help work out scale, height and proportion on different parts of the body. Once thing I think has the biggest impact on all this is the angle in which you view something, so sketching out different angles, or taking photos and being a cinematographer is all relative to making a final image. 

 When you draw something in 2D you probably want it to look 3D which is where perspective comes in. If you want it to be exactly 2D then you'll be looking at orthagraphic views of whatever it is, however what I'm saying is when you want to turn 2D into 3D it's good to look at the 2D orthagraphics first then use them to help you create a 3D image or you can just use you own quick Artistic judgement in perspective by using a horizon line and vanishing points there are different ways of working things out.

One last thing: A theory video on Da Vinci's work I found quite a while ago: