How I Compose a Drawing

Before I think about composition, I focus on my subject,  I find an aspect of it that I like.  Maybe I like the look of an entire table or just the knotted grain.  Whatever my focus, I try to place that prominently on my paper.  And then I imagine my drawn image has weight like its real-life counterpart.  And I imagine that color and shadow have weight too.  White space is weightless.

1.	Unbalanced
	Compositions can be unbalanced.  For example, if I drew a table in the bottom left corner of a piece of paper, its weight would appear to drag that corner down.  If I then stuck a pin in the center of this drawing and stuck it to the wall, the table would pull on the paper so much the paper would spin and wind up pointing table down.  And then if I spun the paper like a pinwheel, it would wobble.      Unbalanced compositions are used to express ideas and feelings strongly. My table, for example, looks lonely.
2.	Balanced
	Compositions can be balanced.  For example, if I added an equal amount of shading to the top right of my drawing from the previous example, my drawing would appear to even out.  I could also add object(s).  If I then spun my drawing on a pin like above, it would spin evenly and even wind up level when it stopped spinning.      Balanced compositions are used to express ideas and feelings comfortably.  Now my table looks more at home.
	EXERCISE  -  Look at a group of objects like leaves on a tree or bricks in a wall, in real life or in a photo.  Focus on only a few of the objects that catch your eye, ones that you like.  Draw them prominently on your paper in either a balanced or an unbalanced composition.  Try following the shading rules described in the "shading" lesson.