Curves

The last few days worth of blog posts have been about pretty ‘heavy’ ideas. I’m worn out from it! I need a few days of simpler stuff.

Compositional elements. OK, that can get pretty involved as well, but at least one doesn't have to get overly philosophical. And to get deeper into the elements of composition I can strongly recommend a look at some of Gloria Hopkins’ excellent articles here, here, here, and here. By the way, more about Gloria next week.

But for now, the word of the day is ‘curves’. I think the curved line is one of the most elegant of compositional elements and there are many ways of having it presented within an image.

Nature's Curves
Copyright Howard Grill

As opposed to the more linear aspects of composition, I find that the presence of smooth and gentle curves can add or accentuate the feeling of peace in an image, as opposed to harsh lines and diagonals that can sometimes be used to add tension. I find it very intriguing that certain graphic elements can really effect the underlying ‘feel’ of an image.