Thank's Bob, much more eloquent than I would have been.
At 09:35 AM 12/30/2002 +0000, you wrote:
Hi,
Tuesday, December 31, 2002, 2:55:05 AM, you wrote:
> Which was exactly my point. The rule of thirds is mentioned in
PHOTOGRAPHY books. Not how-to-draw art books (get a hold of some and
see). (BTW - I had a perfectly decent art education when I was an
> art major in college -- involving more than one college in fact).
> No "rules" about composition are taught in art classes that I can
recall. (I can't recall one.) Because the whole concept that composition
can be reduced down to some set of rules, is basically
> silly.
> Again, what I stated was the rule of thirds is not some well-known
> artistic rule that artists are taught. That is pure myth.
> Later, Doe aka Marnie :-)
ratios based on pairs in the Fibonacci series increasingly approximate
phi, the golden ratio, so dividing the frame by one of the Fibonacci
numbers allows you to find the golden section reasonably easy. The rule
of thirds is an approximation of the golden section to be used pragmatically
because it's easier for photographers in a hurry mentally to divide the frame
in 3 (ratio of 1:2) than to divide it into larger numbers such as 5 (2:3),
8 (3:5), 13 (5:8) and so on up Fibonacci series). In general painters, drawers
and so on have more time for photographers. This may explain why the rule of
thirds per se is not mentioned in basic drawing books. The golden section,
however, is often mentioned in such books, and is explored in some detail in
many of the design books I have, as well as in guides to understanding,
analyzing and appreciating paintings.
Just because you weren't taught it, doesn't mean it isn't taught. It's
an unfortunate fact that many art colleges no longer teach sketching
and drawing, or give life classes, but these disciplines still exist
and are still important.
As I've mentioned elsewhere, the word 'rule' in this context is not a
rule in the same sense as a piece of legislation, or as the laws of
physics, but is an observation about existing successful designs, and
a heuristic. I suspect that what gets people's goat is the
misunderstanding of the word 'rule' and the supposed implication of
compulsion. If you ignore the word, and investigate the ideas behind the
divine proportion you will find a great deal of value and will
probably increase your enjoyment of art and architecture.
---
Bob
"Our heads are round so that our thoughts can fly in any direction"
Francis Picabia
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. --Groucho Marx
