The Composition in Abstract Art

The composition in abstract art is made in two interlinked phases. It begins with creating the elements and then progresses to the principles of abstract art.

Any abstract painting or another type of art starts with its elements. The elements of abstract art are colour, value, shape, form, line, texture and space. These are the main building components of any painting.

The arrangement and organisation of the elements of art are then created through the guidelines of the principles of art. These are movement, balance, unity, variety, rhythm, pattern, proportion and emphasis.

I have written two comprehensive guides about the elements and principles of abstract art highlighted in the above links. I would suggest going through the elements of abstract art and then the principles of abstract art.

Having a better understanding of the elements and the principles of abstract art will help you to gain a greater knowledge of the composition in abstract art, which is the subject of this article.

What is abstract art?

Abstract art is a fascinating type of art that started about 100 years ago. All types of art are considered abstract. However, there are two main categories. Representational and non-representational.

In a broad sense, representational art is the art that is depicted from the real world around us. For example, landscapes and figurative art are representational. While non-representational art is not depicted in the real world.

Non-representational art is created with colours, lines, shapes, etc. without necessarily using any recognisable objects. Non-representational art attempts to express the artist’s ideas, beliefs and imagination. It uses the elements of art as its vocabulary to tell a story or to express meaning.

I have written a more detailed article explaining the definition of abstract art. There is a lot more to talk about abstract art and I enjoy discussing and explaining as much as I know about the world of abstract art. 

What is composition in abstract art?

Understanding composition in abstract art is not too complicated, however, it is not straightforward, either. I am sure as you continue reading this article, you will realise how simple it could be.

All abstract artists strive to create abstract paintings to evoke the viewer’s emotional response and keep him/her engaged with the artwork. A good composition in abstract art tells a story.

Composition is probably the one main element that could actually make or break any visual artwork. It all depends on the skilful ability of the artist to create compelling artwork to draw in the viewer.

A great composition does not stop at attracting viewers, but it stays with them long after they have seen the artwork. And that is all about making a great piece of visual artwork.

Most viewers may not spend any time investigating what elements of art the artist used or examining the principles of the artwork the artist created. We tend to quickly glance at a painting to see if it will attract us.

According to the Slow Art Look/Movement, museum visitors spend something like 17 seconds looking at a piece of artwork!

So, the artwork would need to attract attention, not necessarily interest, within 17 seconds.

Therefore, all emphasis is placed on the composition in abstract art to do four things, at least:

1. Attracts immediate attention (within 17 seconds),
2. Develops that attention to interest,
3. Keeps the viewer engaged, and
4. Stays with the viewer long after seeing the artwork.

Now, that is not a simple task to accomplish in any abstract painting or any other artwork.

This is the ambition of almost every artist and artwork.

I do my best to keep the above 4 steps in mind when I create my abstract paintings. I do not always get it right.

Composition meaning in art is such a deep subject. Compositional techniques in art can get a little too complicated.

Composition in abstract art or any other type of art is extremely important. Professional artists may look deeper into a piece of artwork and perhaps try to investigate it from a technical point of view.

Non-artists may approach art from simply an enjoyment point of view. At the end of the day, whether you are a professional artist or not, the aim is to enjoy the artwork.

Abstract art composition examples

The artist is completely free to create the elements of abstract art and the principles of abstract art to suit his/her artwork.

Technically speaking in the professional art world there are many composition rules, techniques and theories. These can be way too technical and may become too complicated. For the interest and purpose of this article, I would like to keep things simple.

Rather than composition rules, I prefer to use composition ‘structure’. I also want to stress the point that it does not matter what structure the artist uses as long as there is a structure in the artwork. Any appropriate structure is better than none at all.

Here are some of the common compositional techniques in art.

The Rule of Thirds

I prefer to think of it as a guideline rather than a rule. In the interest of simplicity, I will refer to it as a “rule” as it is more popularly known. But think of it as a guide, not as a must to use in your abstract paintings.

The Rule of Thirds is made of imaginary lines that divide the image or artwork into 9 squares or rectangles. This is done by making two equally spaced vertical lines and two horizontal lines.

The intersections of the lines create four points and aligning the focal point along these points should create the centre of interest in the artwork. The focal point does not have to be exactly on the points of intersection.

Just a little bit of history. John Thomas Smith (1766-1833) was the first to write about the rule of thirds in 1797, in his book “Remarks on Rural Scenery”. However, it is believed the origin of the rule of thirds may go back to ancient Greece.

The rule of third is derived from the Golden Ratio and it is a simplification of it.

The rule of thirds is used a lot in the art world, e.g. advertising, movies, TV shows and other artworks. It also works really well in photography and I used it a lot, particularly, in my early days with photography.

The rule of thirds is probably one of the easiest and simplest compositional techniques in art to create visually pleasing artwork.

I will use one of my abstract paintings to explain the rule of thirds. As a matter of fact, this abstract painting can also demonstrate several other compositional techniques, which I will also cover in this article.

In the painting above, I drew two vertical and two horizontal lines. The four intersecting points are supposedly more attractive to our eyes. Depending on the subject of your art, the idea is to place your focal point on or around any of these four points.

The rule of thirds not only highlights the focal point but also shows the relationship of the focal point within the entire subject of the artwork.

The Golden Ratio

The Golden Ratio is a natural phenomenon and can be mathematically created. The Golden Ratio is about the relationship of object proportion.

Nature is full of great examples of the Golden Ratio such as in sea shells, plants, animals and in the arrangements of the planets in the universe. A lot of people came up with many theories on why this exact ratio works in the concept of natural beauty.

The Golden Ratio is used heavily not only in paintings and photography, it is used greatly in architecture and design. For example, mobile phones, flat-screen TVs and violins, It is also used in some of the most famous brand logos like Apple, Twitter and Pepsi.

Best examples of the Golden Ratio can be found in the human body. This video explains the Golden Ratio in a simple way. I am sure you will be surprised by how amazing the Golden Ratio natural phenomenon is in the universe.

Here again, I am using the same abstract painting to explain in simple terms the Golden Ratio and how it can be used in art.

To start with, the Golden Ratio is the relationship between objects’ ratios to one another and to the whole subject of the artwork. Mathematically, that ratio is 1 to 1.618.

Looking at the painting below (left), the ratio of width to the length of the canvas I used is equal to 1.618. For example, the width of the canvas is 1 metre (39 inches) and the length is 1.618 metre (63 inches). The Golden Ration = 1.618 ÷ 1 = 1.618

Secondly, I drew the Golden Ratio Spiral on top of the painting as you can see in the painting below (right). Again, the Golden Ratio Spiral is a mathematical equation based on the Fibonacci Sequence. (Leonardo Fibonacci (1170-1250) was a well-known mathematician born in Pisa, Italy).

The Fibonacci Sequence is a series of numbers created by adding up the two numbers before in the series: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, etc. Without going into too much maths., this video explains the Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio Spiral.

Notice the location of the focal point in the Golden Ratio Spiral. It also follows the ratio of 1 to 1.618 concerning the overall size of the canvas.

I know the Golden Ratio involves some maths and may seem a little complicated. The best way is to practise it in your drawings, paintings or photography. Try also to identify it when you are looking at paintings or photographs. I am sure it will give you a better understanding and appreciation of the Golden Ratio.

Contrast

The contrast in a piece of artwork plays a vital role in creating a dynamic and interesting subject. It is the difference between two elements in the artwork.

Artists use several techniques to create a powerful and effective contrast. Here are some common examples of how we can create contrast:

• Colour contrast
  • Value – light and dark
  • Temperature – warm vs. cold
  • Hue and saturation
  • Complementary colours
• Shapes and forms contrast – large vs. small
• Texture contrast – smooth vs. rough
• Edge contrast – focused vs. blurred

All the techniques of creating contrast in art aim to grab attention. It may draw the viewer’s attention to the focal point or centre of interest. Contrast is also used to highlight important areas in the artwork.

Similar to all other compositional techniques in art, contrast is often used to develop the viewer’s initial attention to interest and engage him/her to become involved in the story. Whether they can read the artist’s story or create their own.

Contrast is a powerful aspect of composition in abstract art. It is important in all other types of art, but I think it has a profound impact in, particularly, abstract art. This is because of the absence of recognisable objects, as I mentioned above.

The contrast in abstract art has another important effect. It helps the artwork to tell a story. Every artist (well almost every artist) strives to tell a story through their art. I definitely try to.

Every single abstract painting I create is a personal story. A story of an experience, an event or about people I met. I like to include a lot of details and descriptions in my stories making them more exciting and interesting.

Many times I couldn’t finish my story in one painting, so I continued the story with another painting. Here is a true example of two abstract paintings I created recently to tell a complete story – ‘Nothing Here is Wrong’ and ‘Echoes of Mind’. Both abstract acrylic paintings are for sale and I hope they will end up together on one wall somewhere.

Storytelling is a natural human instinct. I am sure we all love to tell stories. Our own stories will always be more interesting, at least to ourselves.

Here is one of my abstract paintings to illustrate the understanding of one of the compositional contrast techniques.

In this painting, the high contrast between colour values is very obvious. The contrast between the darkest dark and the lightest light. It is so powerful and it stands out clearly to draw attention.

The second high contrast value is shown by the gold-orange brushstrokes in three areas. Yellow, orange or gold has the highest light wavelength and can be seen from a distance.

(This is one of the reasons street lights in many countries are amber colour, not white! Interesting).

White, black and gold are my favourite colours and I use them a lot in my abstract paintings.

You would, most likely, see this painting from a far distance because of the highly contrasting colours, i.e. attracting attention. However, would it be interesting enough to stop you for a longer period of time? Would it help you to begin to find the story or make your story? And, would it stay in your mind long after you had seen it?

Guiding or Leading Lines

Learning how to use guiding or leading lines will significantly enhance your composition in abstract art as they are highly effective at focusing the viewer’s attention.

Leading lines can be actual, implied or subliminal lines to keep the viewer engaged within the artwork. The recurrence of various elements throughout your artwork can produce implied lines.

Leading lines help to lead the viewer’s eyes to the focal point or centre of interest.

Creating leading lines in a painting can be a powerful compositional technique. Artists use this technique cleverly not to lead viewers out of the artwork.

A variety of leading lines in thickness, direction and length add more interest to the painting. Leading lines can be vertical, horizontal, diagonal or curved. Each type of leading line serves a different purpose and evokes different emotions.

Horizontal leading lines add stability and vertical lines add power. Diagonal leading lines are associated with energy and curved lines suggest softness and elegance.

There are also natural or organic leading lines that are made by nature. These are my favourite leading lines that I use in my abstract paintings.

In this abstract acrylic painting, I used leading lines as the main composition of the painting. Thick and bold lines of orange and black dominate the entire painting.

Notice how the leading lines are focused in the vertical centre of the canvas. Our eyes would naturally follow the lines from top to bottom and vice-versa.

It focuses the viewer’s attention on such highly contrasting colours and helps the viewer to start looking closer at the smaller details.

Primarily, the leading lines in this painting are curved with subtle finer black brushstrokes that add some interest to the painting.

Breaking the rules of composition in abstract art

I must admit that this is my favourite type of composition. I never liked rules, particularly in art. Art rules are like so many rules in our lives, they are man-made rules. Today, they might be right, but tomorrow they may not be applicable.

Compositional rules, theories and techniques have a purpose as guidelines. However, they are not a must to use to create interesting artwork.

But, before you break the rules of composition in abstract art you must know the rules, how you break them and why.

Following all the composition rules in art does not necessarily create good or great artwork. Applying compositional rules may help the artist to create a pleasing piece of art.

Intentionally breaking composition rules could create more drama and intriguing composition. Many of us become familiar with noticing the focal point in a painting or a photo following the rule of thirds, for example. It becomes predictable.

But, what happens when you deliberately place the focal point in the middle or the corner of your canvas? That is not likely to appeal to most of us. It becomes unfamiliar.

Unfamiliarity is essentially what distinguishes non-representational art from representational. All the elements used in making non-representational art are unfamiliar and create unrecognisable shapes or forms.

Making good abstract art is extremely challenging as there is no reference or representation from the real world. Breaking the rules of composition in abstract art makes it even more challenging for the artist.

Creating great artwork is triggered by being innovative and not necessarily by following the rules of art. History tells us about great artists. They were not afraid to break the rules or worried about mockery and criticism.

Abstract art began as a way of rebelling against traditional art at that time. Some artists sought freedom from the rules of art. They accepted the challenge to be unconventional.

The main point of breaking the rules of composition in abstract art is to ensure there is still balance and harmony in the overall subject of your art. There is a story and there is a message.

Balance and harmony are the main keys to any artwork, whether you follow all the compositional techniques or break them. I will talk more about balance and harmony next.

I am aware that there is a lot to talk about regarding composition in art. This excellent video “Composition in Art Explained” by Kezia Carter summarises the whole subject simply and interestingly.

Visual weight (balance and harmony)

In a two-dimensional artwork, visual weight is measured by how much particular elements in the artwork draw the attention of viewers.

Visual weight can be used to establish symmetry, visual direction, visual hierarchy, balance and harmony of an element (or elements) as well as the entire art subject.

In this topic, I will focus on visual weight to establish balance and harmony in the overall art subject.

Visual weight can be made using elements of art in several ways. The use of size, colour, contrast, proportion and density. I will touch on the following aspects to give you an idea about visual weight in art.

• Size: Larger elements suggest heavier weight and attract more attention than smaller elements.
• Colour plays a major part as it has several properties that can affect the element’s visual weight such as hue, value and saturation. Red is regarded to be the heaviest and yellow is the lightest in terms of visual weight.
• Contrast: is probably one of the most important elements in any artwork. High contrasting elements make them stand out more than low contrasting elements.

It is worth noting that every element in the artwork has a visual weight. In creating balance and harmony in the whole art subject, the artist must take into consideration the visual weight of each element.

A balanced and harmonious composition in abstract art is created when every element contributes to add and complement the other elements. And finally, all the elements are working together contributing to building a meaningful story.

Deliberately creating an unbalanced composition, particularly in abstract art, is not necessarily a bad thing. On the contrary, unbalanced composition in abstract art can create a powerful effect.

Achieving effective balance and harmony in an artwork is a delicate task. It is even more challenging in abstract art.

The centre of interest

This is also known as the focal point that may attract the immediate attention of the viewer. A focal point is very important to any artwork. Better still, if there is one main focal point rather than several ones.

Without a centre of interest in the painting, the viewer would move quickly around the painting wondering what the whole point is. If the viewer is unable to find a particular area of interest within the artwork, he/she may quickly dismiss the artwork and move away.

Creating a focal element in abstract art is more challenging than in representational art. Primarily because in abstract non-representational art there are no recognisable objects, as I mentioned earlier.

Abstract art is created with colours, lines, shapes, etc. that may appear as random blocks of an aimless image. So abstract artists will need to carefully create a focal point to attract attention. Something attractive to stop the viewer from beginning the journey of a story.

It could be by using high contrast colour values, saturation, guiding lines, geometric shapes, texture or object motion. These are only a few examples and the main idea is to make one element stand out from the rest of the scene.

Question: what if the focal point was the entire artwork itself?

Final thoughts on composition in abstract art

The approach to composition in art and its rules change over time as people and concepts change. However, I believe the definition and meaning of art as an expression and sharing life experiences will, most likely, never change.

In the art world, there are many rules of composition in abstract art. I have only touched on just a few of them to keep it simple.

It can get a little too deep to explain other “rules” such as colour harmony, geometric shapes, perspective, the rule of odds, dynamic symmetry, the rule of the frame and positive and negative space.

I don’t believe art should be complicated and follow strict rules. Everyone should be free to express themselves and their life experiences without having to follow rules in order to do so.

For those who are interested to know more about abstract art rules, I’ve written more details about it in this blog: The Method in the Madness: Abstract Art Rules Explained.

I am well aware of the rules of art, but I try to encourage people to approach art freely. You don’t have to be a professional artist or an art graduate to express your feelings and emotions in art.

You don’t have to follow the rules of thirds or the rule of the golden ratio. Abstract art is still debated very strongly and whether it is even considered art.

The proof is in the pudding, I would say. If people are valuing Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings for hundreds of millions of Pounds, what can anybody say about his art style?

Live and let live.

People create art not necessarily aiming to become the next Leonardo da Vinci or Pablo Picasso. They enjoy creating art as a means of self-expression and perhaps self-discovery. Why would anybody deny them that?

Art is for everybody without rules, restrictions or limitations.

What do you think?