Sunday, May 24, 2020

Grouping Heads in a Composition

"Alas, poor Yorick," scene from Hamlet by Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret
Compositional tip: If you're staging a scene with more than two figures, overlap two of them, especially if those two are reacting to something.

This illustration from Emma by Jane Austin by Charles and Henry Brock
In this scene from Jane Austin's Emma, the two characters have been whispering to each other, and the tale is told from the point of view of the woman on the left. By bringing two of the faces close together, it's easier to see their reactions.






2 comments:

Susan Krzywicki said...

The two grouped heads then almost form a set of eyes and the lines drawn from them visually, to the object, seem really pronounced.

Penny Taylor said...

So in this one does poor Yorick count as a head?