Informal Compositions

Recently I've been enjoying thinking about strategies for arranging stuff in visual art again and I've been playing with Andrew Loomis's system for creating cool compelling informal compositions. This particular technique comes from the book Creative Illustration which Amazon.com declares Loomis's magnum opus, "aimed primarily at the professional-level illustrator. Divided into seven sections: Line, Tone, Color, Telling the Story, Creating Ideas, Fields of Illustration, and Experimenting and Studies, this book is filled with instructions, tips, insider experiences, and incredible illustrations." 

This classic text and other important Loomis books can be downloaded for free online.

If you've played with Zentangles before, then this approach will seem familiar. Here instead of working towards designs of lines and patterns, your aim is to build toward actual illustrative content. It's simple. It works and it's so dang easy to create a structure to build a successful composition upon. 

The Loomis Technique for Creating Amazing Informal Compositions

Step 1.

 Draw a perpendicular (vertical) line. Place it off center, asymmetrically dividing the picture plane.

Then draw a diagonal from one corner to another.

Now draw a horizontal line at the intersection of the first two lines.

Step 2.

Now draw a single horizontal line through any RECTANGLE produced in Step 1.

Step 3.

Now draw new horizontal lines at any intersection. Now draw new perpendicular (vertical) lines at any intersection.

Step 4.

Continue creating informal subdivisions in this way.

Now build in your subject using the structural lines you've created as a compositional guide.

Make Great Art!