Hi everyone.
Yuki here, I am an (amateur) artist who uses AI to enhance my creative process recently.
First of all, I want to thank you all. My last article got 2k+ views, 90+ reactions, 70+ bookmarks, I am happy that my article can help you. Your kind comments touched me very much, thank you, it is your gentleness and kindness that keep me creating and sharing. 😊
Civitai | My AI-Assisted Painting Workflow: A Personal Journey
Intro:
At this stage, AI painting tools can generate a large number of images in a short time, but the quality of these images is uneven. Some images may have reasonable composition, harmonious color, some images may have chaotic composition, messy color. Artists need to have higher aesthetic ability and judgment, to be able to pick out the most suitable one from the many composition options, and to be able to make necessary modifications and improvements.
I know that some of you may not be professional artists, or have little knowledge of composition. You look at a picture and only feel that it looks beautiful, harmonious and comfortable, but You don’t know why. In fact, this is the magic of composition. Composition can make the picture more attractive and expressive, and can make the audience more engaged and moved. I hope this article can also give some inspiration to these friends, so that you can discover the connotation of beauty, then I will be very honored.
I will introduce 3 common and useful composition methods this time, and give examples from my own works (To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and troubles).
Frame method:
Frame method is to use some elements in the picture as a frame, to frame the focus of the image, to highlight the main body, and also to create a sense of depth. For example, you can use branches, windows, doorways as frames, and put the scenery or characters you want to show in the frame, which can increase the sense of hierarchy and three-dimensionality of the image.
Here are two artworks I created using this composition method.
Image posted by Yuki_Hotaru (civitai.com)
Image posted by Yuki_Hotaru (civitai.com)
Symmetry method:
Symmetry method is to divide the picture according to a certain axis or center of symmetry, so that the objects in the picture form axial symmetry or central symmetry, to show a sense of stability, harmony and decoration. For example, you can use water surface, character, building as the axis or center of symmetry, and divide the picture into two identical or similar parts, which can increase the sense of balance and beauty of the picture.
Here are two artworks I created using this composition method.
Image posted by Yuki_Hotaru (civitai.com)
Image posted by Yuki_Hotaru (civitai.com)
Third method:
Third method is to divide the picture into nine equal squares with two horizontal lines and two vertical lines, and then place the focus of the picture on one or more of the four intersections, to achieve a balance and attract the viewer’s attention. Put the scenery or characters you want to highlight near the intersection, which can increase the sense of movement and focus of the picture.
It should be noted that the third method does not require us to put the subject on the four intersection points of the image. In fact, as long as we put the subject on one side of the image, we can make the image more interesting. Of course, if the subject has a clear focus, such as head or anything you strongly want to show to the audience, then putting it on the intersection point will attract more attention from the audience.
Here are two artworks I created using this composition method.
Image posted by Yuki_Hotaru (civitai.com)
Image posted by Yuki_Hotaru (civitai.com)
If you are a video game player, and have played The Evil Within or Resident Evil 2/3/4 Remake, you will find that the game perspective is actually a third method composition. The protagonist in the game is usually located in the lower left or lower right of the screen, rather than in the center, which can let the player better observe the environment and enemies, and also increase the tension and excitement of the game.
Here's a screenshot of Resident Evil 4 Remake. You can see that Leon is located in lower left of the screen.
Overall:
In this article, I only introduced three of the many composition methods, namely frame, symmetry and third methods. Of course, these are not the only or the best composition methods, just some of my personal favorites and commonly used ones, and they are simple to learn.
Composition is not a fixed and unchanging rule, but a subjective and changing art. Although there are many mature and effective composition methods now, we should not be bound by them. Creation is the act of expressing beauty, and any composition that can achieve this goal is a good composition.
Sometimes you don’t even need to think hard about how to compose, such as portrait painting, because human faces have a natural attraction to humans. When painting portraits, you should put more energy on how to make the characters look better.
I still remember my teacher once told me that there are endless composition methods, and everyone can create different compositions according to their own preferences and styles. But no matter what kind of composition method you use, in the final analysis, they are for two purposes: contrast and guidance.
So, I hope that after learning these composition methods, you can use them flexibly, and create more wonderful artworks with AI, or just enjoy the beauty of images.
PS:
This is my introduction and sharing of composition methods. If you think this is helpful or you are interested in my artworks, please don’t forget to follow me. 😊
If you have any feedback or suggestions, please leave a message in the comment section.
Thank you for your attention and happy creating. 😉