If you want to make an impact with your image, composition is of utmost importance. When you first see an image, long before your brain registers all the pretty details, it notices the basic shapes. It looks for lines, blobs, contours and constructions that tell it what it is looking at. It also looks for clues as to what exactly in the image it should be looking at. This is where some tips and tricks can help. Instead of simply listing different compositional ideas, I have some images to look at and some explanation as to why they work.
Please Sir, I want some more - Kimbomac
One thing is absolutely obvious in this one. You have NO choice but to look EXACTLY where the person wants you to. The subject is painfully obvious! Here are some things to learn from this: Plain background: Your basic white, or plain background does wonders for making it quite and absolutely clear what your subject is. There is no interference whatsoever - no competition for attention. If you do have stuff in the background, consider blurring it. It gives the feel of background detail without the visual interference Perspective: The exaggerated perspective also makes things very clear. By making the bowl and hands so much larger, and tapering to tiny feet we know immediately it's the holding of the bowl that is of great importance to this piece (indeed - it's the whole point of this image as it's depicting the classic scene from Oliver Twist). Flow/Lines: Even is the perspective wasn't wanting to specifically point to the bowl as a focal point, it is doing something to our eyes. It's telling us where to begin, the direction to look in and where to end. On the image on the right I've drawn out how that might look. It's adds a sort of 'living quality' to the image that gives it more character and depth and frankly makes it easier on the eyes. A sweeping curved line, or strong diagonal, or even the blocky chunky square shape is something that takes no effort to 'see' in our minds eye and in the end makes our brain smile and say "hey I know what that is" instead of making it struggle to figure out what a whole bunch of little bits and pieces add up to.
The Giant Murc - Keveller
Now, this one does in fact have a great deal of detail. On top of that, there is a lot of masterful technical tweaks like the intense sharpening and harsh lighting effects. That aside though, the composition is what really makes the difference between technically well done garbage, and one with artistic merit. Here's what works: Diagonals/pointing lines: In the image on the right I've drawn in red how these works. The lines themselves are not actually present in the image but suggested well enough that we can 'see' them. We have the imagined table edge, the slope of the shoulders, and the perspective in general all very clearly point to one place in the image. Yeah, I'm sure the nose is not the focal point of the whole thing, but the lines are doing their job - telling our eyes how to perceive the image and how to look at it. It's a neat little easy to understand construction that doesn't make us need to look around to sort things out. Within a split second our brain can decide how to see this and is pleased by the helpful clues. Filling the image: The giant is clearly taking up as much as the image as it can. Without a doubt, it's clearly the subject. There is no unnecessary background, just enough to frame the giant nicely and do what job it needs to in front. The more your subject dominates the image, the more clearly it's recognized as the subject. This does not work for every image of course!! In this case it's perfect. Additional lines in yellow: If you're going to add stuff that doesn't follow your initial flow, make sure it's complementary and not interfering. In this case, the two utensils are making bold clear lines that actually help to frame the giant and don't really break up the image's nice pointing diagonals. Had it been two rods sticking out of his ears it might look odd, as the rest of the image is working on the vertical, not horizontal. As for other stuff, like the keys at the bottom, they aren't interfering either as they are nicely following the image's edge and almost blend into that horizontal instead of jutting out somewhere in the middle and breaking up the nice cohesion. Items on the back wall are notably following that same nice vertical setup, and the cage in fact is nicely placed and angled to follow the line created by the fork - thus again, not breaking up the cohesion.
The Last Unicorn - JenBetton
A recent favorite of mine. A great example of simple, elegant and effective composition. Filling the frame: By having the subject of the image reach the edge and keep going it leaves the viewer unable to imagine that the subject could possibly be anything but the bull and unicorn. Flow: On the right I've drawn out the S curve so evident in this piece. If you are going to have two characters interact, having them follow the lines of a single sweeping curve is the most beautiful way to do it. The curves of each oppose and yet complement each other, serving as pointers from either direction converging in the middle. The unicorn so neatly fills the curved space created by the bull, which in turn so nicely envelops the unicorn. The resulting effect is so elegant that the mind can see the image as a whole so easily and comfortably, and yet still 'see' the movement, the way the two are interacting with each other, the 'dance'. Rule of thirds: In this image, the unicorn and the eyes of the bull are located on the line serving as a marker for where the last third of the image begins. Placing the important stuff on the third is a good rule of thumb to ensure maximum pleasing impact (it's not always the case, but a good rule of thumb anyway). It also really helps the balance of this image and now the bull appears larger, looming in fact, as it's bulk takes up 2/3 of the image. And the part that is visible isn't even the whole body! The unicorn in contrast is dwarfed. Almost it's entire self is visible in the bottom 1/3. Other ratios could in fact work to show the bull is bigger, but thirds for whatever reason are naturally pleasing.
This is where we used to live - Meowza
I couldn't possibly ignore the compositions of the master Meowza. A lot of his work uses unusual canvas sizes and great vanishing points to the fullest. Forget the jaw dropping details of the illustration and think about the geometric construction alone. Vanishing point: Every single background line in this image points to one spot - that imaginary infinity at the back of this image. No amount of trying not to look will stop you from having your eyes wrenched right back to that spot. And that's where our subjects are. At one of the two points where all of these lines converge. And it's not even necessary for them to be smack in the middle. Anywhere along those lines would work equally as well. So long as they are placed right where those lines are telling us to look. There is absolutely nothing about this image that distracts from the basic design. The whole piece can be imagined as a tunnel, and not one wall detail can make us think that it's not. Everything, even the drawings on the wall still point us to the middle. In fact no other compositional trick is needed at this point. It's so painfully obvious to the mind what it is looking at.