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The term collage derives from the French term papiers collés (or découpage), used to describe techniques of pasting paper cut-outs onto various surfaces. It was first used as an artists' technique in the early twentieth century.

Collage can also include other media such as painting and drawing, and contain three-dimensional elements.

Collage allows the opening up of conscious, which is very direct...its also a way of looking at what you are consuming all the time - John Stezaker

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Tate glossary definition for collage: Used to describe both the technique and the resulting work of art in which pieces of paper, photographs, fabric and other ephemera are arranged and stuck down to a supporting surface

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Most creatives, from painters to photographers, will have come across the Rule of Thirds at some point. Anyone who deals in producing visually appealing work will have had this golden guideline pushed on them in order to achieve a balanced composition. But what is the Rule of Thirds? And where does it come from?

What is the Rule of Thirds?

The Rule of Thirds is a general guideline for how to create an interesting composition which states that any image-painting, photograph, graphic design-should be broken into a grid with two vertical and two horizontal lines, creating nine equally proportioned boxes. Important compositional elements should then be placed either on the lines or at their intersections. This results in dynamic, interesting compositions that draw the viewer's eye across the scene.

This technique is often employed in landscape painting and photography, but really can apply to any genre. As one of the beginning rules of composition taught to visual artists, it's a quick and easy way for anyone-from beginner to expert-to improve the visual impact of their work. And while today the Rule of Thirds is most often associated with photography, it should come as no surprise that it originates from painting.

One of many compositional tricks that artists use, the Rule of Thirds was first written down in 1797, when an author quotes English painter Sir Joshua Reynolds. In discussing the balance of light and dark in an artwork, Reynolds refers to the Rule of Thirds, discussing it as a more general principle of balance. It would later be transformed into the grid system we know today.

An easy way to see if artwork-whether your own or by others-follows the Rule of Thirds is to lay a grid over the final image. If you don't feel like making the simple calculations, you can download a grid.

Rule of Thirds in Painting

Photographers aren't the only ones who use the Rule of Thirds. Long before the world's first photographs, famous artists frequently employed the technique in order to achieve harmony and balance in their compositions. Let's look at three different artists across different genres to see how they all applied the Rule of Thirds to great effect.

Johannes Vermeer

This early painting by Vermeer shows a use of the compositional trick by the manner in which the sleeping maid's head lines up with the upper horizontal line. Interestingly, the top of the jug on the table matches with the lower horizontal line, creating a pleasing distance between foreground and background subject. Even the door cracked open has a compositional purpose. The door itself fall exactly on the right vertical line running through the painting. These choices, combined with Vermeer's use of light and shadow, lend dramatic tension to this seemingly everyday scene.

J.M.W. Turner

This famous landscape painting by acclaimed English Romantic painter J.M.W. Turner makes great use of the Rule of Thirds. Not only does the horizon fall on the lower horizontal line, the ships intersect along the first vertical line. Placing the ships slight off center gives the piece a sense of dynamic movement that helps make it one of Turner's most acclaimed paintings.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Impressionists may be known as rule breakers, but that doesn't mean they didn't practice the fundamentals of good composition. Renoir's 1873 oil painting, now part of the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, shows the careful placement of his subjects, letting them hit along multiple lines in the grid. Renoir's masterpiece is a good reminder of how the Rule of Thirds can be used to create natural groupings of people within a composition.

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Quick Guide to the Rule of Thirds for Artists and Photographers

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Most creatives, from painters to photographers, will have come across the Rule of Thirds at some point. Anyone who deals in producing visually appealing work will have had this golden guideline pushed on them in order to achieve a balanced composition. But what is the Rule of Thirds?

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students will create a copy of their painting in the form of a collage. This will most likely be on a smaller scale. The purpose of this second lesson is to further reinforce their understanding of color by challenging students to look for close matches of the colors they mixed for their paintings.

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Creating Color Harmony

Putting together harmonious color combinations begins with understanding how we see colors and the relationships of each hue to one another. A good way to see color relationships is to look at the color wheel.

The placement of the colors around the wheel are not random. They are arranged in spectral order (like the rainbow) bend into a complete circle. Each color's placement on the wheel can help you to identify harmonious color combinations.

Start with a quick review of the basics. The twelve hues of the color wheel are divided into primary colors, secondary colors, and tertiary colors.

The three primary colors are the hues that in theory can be mixed to make all other colors. These colors are equidistant around the outside of the circle.

By mixing two adjacent primary hues you create the three secondary colors of green, violet (purple) and orange.

red + yellow = orange

blue + red = violet

yellow + blue = green

The third set of hues are known as tertiary or intermediate colors. These hues are made by mixing a primary color with an adjacent secondary color.

The six tertiary or intermediate colors are:

yellow-green,
blue-green
blue-violet
red-violet
red-orange
yellow-orange

Note that the names for the tertiary colors always begin with the primary color followed by the secondary color; yellow-orange not orange-yellow, for example.

The twelve primary, secondary and tertiary hues along with their tints, tones, and shades make up the color wheel.

To create balance many of the majority of the classic color harmonies are combinations of colors that balance the spectrum of colors. These tried and true color combinations can be seen using geometric shapes to help you visualize the relationship of the hues on the color wheel.

Rotate these shapes around the central point of the color wheel to create dozens of classic color combinations.

Monochromatic: One Color Harmony

Monochromatic Harmony - is made from a single color family. In most designs, a monochromatic scheme includes a combination of tints, tones, and shades from the same color family together with black, white and/or gray. to add depth and contrast.

While you might think that this would be the easiest scheme to work with, it is one of the most difficult because without color contrast a design can seem flat or boring. A design must employ other techniques such as change in value, intensity, etc. to keep the design interesting.

Examples of the Monochromatic Color Harmony

Diad: Two Color Harmony

Diad Harmony - a combination of two colors that are separated by one color on the color wheel, ex. yellow and green or yellow-orange and red-orange. While the hues in this harmony can be used on their own, you will often see the diad combination used as accents colors with neutrals.

Examples of the Diad Color Harmony

Complementary: Two Color Harmony

Complementary Harmony - created by pairing the two colors positioned directly across the color wheel from one another. Each color on the wheel has only one complement, which is also called its direct complement.

The complementary color harmony is has the highest degree of color contrast. The amount of contrast makes this harmony popular for logos, sports team colors, and graphics. In lighter or less intense colors it is popular for interior and exterior color schemes.

Examples of the Diad Color Harmony

Split Complementary: 3 Color Harmony

Split Complementary Harmony - One color paired with the two colors on either side of that color's direct complement, also known as a divided complement.

Using the split complementary harmony is an easy way take the edge off of the strong contrast between two complements while giving your color scheme more variation and visual interest.

Triad: 3 Color Harmony

Triad - a combination of three hues that are equally spaced from one another around the color wheel. Ex. Red, Yellow, Blue or Green, Purple, Orange.

Examples of the Triad Color Harmony

Analogous: 3+ Color Harmony

Analogous Harmony - consists of two or more color that are side-by-side on the color wheel. To select an analogous color scheme, find any color on the color wheel. Then, choose two to four more colors directly to the left or right of your color without skipping over any colors; also called adjoining colors.

Double Complementary: 4 Color Harmony

Double Complement - a color combinations made up of two sets of complementary colors.

Rectangular Tetrad: 4 Color Harmony

Square Tetrad: 4 Color Harmony

Tetrad Colors - combinations of two complementary pairs of colors with none of the colors being adjacent on the color wheel. Ex. Yellow, Purple, Green, and Blue. There are two formations of the tetrad harmony, rectangular and square.

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Creating Color Harmony | Sensational Color

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Creating Color HarmonyPutting together harmonious color combinations begins with understanding how we see colors and the relationships of each hue to one another. A good way to see color relationships is to look at the color wheel.The placement of the colors around the wheel are not random. They are arranged...

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Supplement: One-Point & Two-Point Perspective

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Supplement: One-Point & Two-Point Perspective

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In this lesson, I'm going to introduce one and two-point linear perspective. Perspective drawing is a way for us to express a three dimensional space on a two dimensional surface.

Here are a few terms you will encounter throughout this lesson:

Vanishing Point(s): The point(s) where parallel lines seem to converge and disappear. To put it a different way, it's the point or points where orthogonal lines come together.

Horizon Line (aka "Eye Level Line"): This an imaginary line represents the farthest distance in the background. In perspective drawing, a horizon line is the height of the viewer's eyes. So, when objects are centered on the horizon line, they are sitting at your eye level. If you place an object below the horizon line, the viewer will be looking down at the object, while placing an object above the horizon line gives the illusion that it is floating above the viewer's head.

Orthogonal Lines: Imaginary diagonal lines that are parallel to the ground plane and radiate from or converge to the vanishing point(s). They act as guidelines to help you maintain perspective while constructing a three dimensional scene.

Transversal Lines: These lines are parallel to the picture plane. They connect orthogonal lines at right angles, establishing an object's fixed width or height.

Introduction to One-Point Perspective

One-point perspective is the easiest to learn because there is only one vanishing point. In the image below, all the perspective lines in the scene originate from a singular vanishing point on the horizon line.
When to Use One-Point Perspective
One point perspective is appropriate when drawing subjects that are facing you directly, instead of at an angle.

This method is a really popular for drawing interior spaces - like the example you're about to see below.

How to Draw Using One-Point Perspective for Beginners

In this step by step mini tutorial, I'm going to draw a room with several people in it.

Step 1: Draw the Horizon Line and Vanishing Point

Use a ruler to draw a straight horizon line with a vanishing point that you can see clearly.

Step 2: Draw the Room

Let's start with the wall that's facing us directly. Use your ruler to draw a rectangle (transversal lines). Make sure the vanishing point is somewhere inside of it.

If the vanishing point is outside of the rectangle and the rest of the room is drawn, we - as viewers - will be looking at the room from the outside.

Use the ruler to align the vanishing point to one corner of the rectangle. Draw a very light orthogonal line that stretches far past that corner.

Do this for the other 3 corners of the rectangle.

Now that your orthogonal lines are in place, draw solid lines to complete the structure.

Step 3: Add Some Detail

You can add things like tables and chairs or even doorways into the scene. For this example, I'm going to keep things fairly simple. So let's put a glass panel on the left wall to turn this room into an aquarium.

Start by drawing a set of orthogonal lines on the left wall of the room.

Add two transversal lines (or dotted lines if you're not sure exactly what size you want it to be just yet).

Once you're confident with the shape and size of the glass panel, draw solid lines to define the new object within the room.

Add a big sea creature into the tank!

Step 4: Add People

Draw Person #1: I'm calling him Gary... for short.

Before I draw Gary, I want to define:

Where he is going to stand

How tall he will be

To do that, draw 2 orthogonal lines. The top one will define his height and the bottom one will define how far from the wall he will be standing (look at the distance from the bottom orthogonal line to the edge of the wall). Make sure your bottom line isn't too close to the wall or else poor Gary will be flat against it.

Then, draw a straight transversal line to define exactly where he's going to stand.

Now all you have to do is draw Gary!

Draw Person #2: Her name shall be Lisa.

Let's draw her along the exact same orthogonal line as Gary. Since those lines have already been defined, all I have to do now is add a transversal line to define where Lisa will stand.

Draw Person #3: Pete

It's getting a little crowded on the right side of the room, so let's fill the rest of the aquarium while keeping everyone's height the same.

To do that, use a ruler to draw a dotted horizontal line from the top of Lisa's head and the bottom of her foot to the far left side of the room. Then draw a vertical line where you want Pete to be positioned.

Draw Pete!

Draw person #4: Tom

You've probably gotten the hang of it by now! But let's draw one more person.

Tom is going to be standing in the middle of the room. To make sure he doesn't block Gary or Lisa's view (they're really enjoying the sharks by the way), draw a transversal line in between Lisa and Gary.

Remember the technique you used to draw Pete? Use the same one here.

Now they can all enjoy the show.

Introduction to Two-Point Perspective

In two-point perspective, there are 2 vanishing points. A single object can be drawn using reference lines coming from both points.

Here, every edge of the shape except for vertical edges can be found by using perspective lines.

How to Draw Using Two-Point Perspective for Beginners

In this example, I'm going to draw two structures and five people.

Step 1: Draw the Horizon Line and Vanishing Points

Use a ruler to draw a straight horizon line and two dots placed well apart.

Step 2: Draw the First Structure

Start by drawing a small vertical line between the two vanishing points. The length of this line will determine the height of your structure.

From each vanishing point, draw 2 perspective lines. Each line must touch the top and bottom of the vertical (transversal) line you just drew).

Step 3: Continue Forming Your Structure

Between each set of perspective lines, draw another transversal line. Now the structure has 3 edges.

The new transversal lines need to be connected to both vanishing points. So draw two additional sets of orthogonal lines to connect them.
Step 4: Define Your Structure
Those orthogonal lines were used to help you form the unknown sides of the structure. Now that you have a nice set of guidelines, use solid lines to define the shape.
Step 5: Draw a Second Structure
Use the same steps to draw a second structure somewhere in the distance.
Step 6: Add people
If you want to add people, draw a vertical line to represent the average height for each person. It can go anywhere you want.

Once you have that in place, draw orthogonal lines coming from each vanishing point. They should touch the top and bottom of the vertical line.

Draw people walking along the dotted perspective lines.

To add more people in other areas of the drawing, employ the same method mentioned in the section on one-point perspective, above.

Here's a clearer image of what's going on without the buildings obstructing your view:

How to Find the Vanishing Point & Horizon Line in a Scene

Let's say you went out for a walk at lunchtime and came across a beautiful cityscape you badly wanted to capture in your sketchbook. With only 25 minutes left to spare, you struggle to measure and draw all 38 buildings and 15 lamp posts in the scene in front of you. Was that enough time to get the job done?

Perhaps the better question is: Was that the right technique to get the job done?

In lesson 4, I covered measuring techniques - and although they're great to use on several objects or individuals in the same scene, it's very tedious for something such as a crowded street or a railway with six train tracks.

If you can find the horizon line and vanishing point(s) in an existing scene, it will reduce the amount of guesswork and measuring greatly.

One-point Perspective Example

Here's a large L-shaped building. Without scrolling down, can you find the vanishing point and horizon line?

You can find the vanishing point of a scene by tracing your way back to its origin using orthogonal lines. Draw a straight line against every side edge of the building. Where each orthogonal line intersects, you have your vanishing point.

To find the horizon line, look at the building's horizontal edges.

Why is it important to find the horizon line? When it comes to one-point perspective, the horizon line helps you know which angle to draw certain edges of a building or objects within a space. For example: not all photographs are perfectly level, so it's common to come across a reference image that is tilted/slanted.

Two-Point Perspective Example

Can you find the vanishing points and horizon line for the image above without scrolling down for the answer?

Draw perspective lines along the edges of each shape until they intersect/converge. You should end up with 2 vanishing points.

To find the horizon line, simply connect both vanishing points together using a straight line.

Homework Assignment + Challenge

Here's your homework and challenge rolled up into one assignment! What does that mean? If you complete the assignment from this lesson and post it on the RFA facebook page, I'll share your artwork with everyone by posting it below (along with a link to your facebook page).

Sound good? Here's the assignment:

Find a room in your house or an outdoor space with buildings, structures and/or people and draw it using linear perspective. The more detail the better! I can't wait to see what you guys will draw!

I'm going to submit my left handed homework too... as soon as I finish the assignments from lesson 4 and 5 haha. I'm a slacker.

If you're done the assignment and are waiting for lesson 7, sign up to my mailing list over on the right to get updated when a new lesson comes out.

UPDATE: Lesson 7 is fresh out of the oven. Click here to continue learning!

If you love what I do here on RapidFireArt, come visit my Patreon page where you can support me while earning cool rewards at the same time!

Happy drawing!

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Lesson 6: Introduction to One and Two Point Perspective

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In this lesson, I'm going to introduce one and two-point linear perspective. Perspective drawing is a way for us to express a three dimensional space on a two dimensional surface. Here are a few terms you will encounter throughout this lesson: Vanishing Point(s): The point(s) where parallel lines seem to converge and disappear.

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Lesson Plan #1: Illusion of Perspective in Painting

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Lesson Plan #1: Illusion of Perspective in Painting

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Interior Perspective Prints - Leah Lewman Laird

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Example Painting (Artist: Leah Lewman Laird)

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Example Painting (Artist: Leah Lewman Laird)

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Contemporary Artist based in Baltimore, MD. Inspired by the beautiful interactions between natural landscapes and man-made structures. Paintings, Drawings, Mixed Media Collage, and Spatial Installation. Visit leahlewman.com for more information.