Exercise - Illustrating Visual Space

Picture 1 - The child dominates this image, the building is in the distance on the horizon line, and the child appears to be walking towards both the tree and the building, but there is no object directly in the middle ground space. The tree at an angle might suggest uneven ground.

Picture 2 - I did not use images all the same size in this illustration, so I could produce an illustration that had dominating objects.

In this image the child is small, the horizon level, but the building is quite large resting on it, the tree is large and ominous in the foreground.  This image works reasonably well, although the child further towards the building could have created more of a working illustration.

Picture 3 - In this image the building is the dominant feature, creating a dark, sinister element.  The tree is a small, stark outline on the horizon, suggesting distance between the objects.

Picture 4 - This image has the child again as the dominant feature, the child in the corner of the frame is looking towards the middle and far distance objects, it does create visual space, but the scale of the objects is just right, for the position they are in.

These are the original images I chose, before I photocopied them.

Picture 5 - Using a different shaped horizon, these images are all of a similar scale, so it does not create visual space, but it is a quirky composition.

Picture 6 - Using the diagonal format again, the child appears to be walking towards the middle distance building, the tree is placed just below the wavy horizon line, so that it only seems just beyond the building.

There is some visual space created, but with having the objects below the horizon line, it appears as though there isn't as much.  Using the diagonal approach your eye is led into the image.

Picture 7 - Slanting horizon line, with the child walking along it, and the other two objects below it.  The building dominates this scene as it is in the foreground despite the objects being the same scale.
This image makes it appear that the child is looking down on the building, although I am not sure it creates visual space, just a  quirkiness.
The child should have probably been smaller in scale if this format were to work so that it appears to be in the distance.

Picture 8 - Another angled image with the child as the dominant figure, this time the horizon is angled in a v-shape.
The scale of the images are not right, the building should have been smaller, the tree slightly larger than it is and the child larger for it to work.  A good experiment, but not successful.

How does your sense of the image and its meaning change when the figure is smaller than the other elements?

It suggests that the child is small and fragile, that the other elements are dominating, possibly even scary.

If the elements are at different angles to each other and at an angle to the frame, what dynamic is suggested?

It can make the image seem chaotic and disorganized, perhaps floating in the visual space, but it could also draw your eye downwards as if spiraling into a hole.

If all the elements are completely horizontal and vertical in relation to the frame what dynamic is suggested?

The dynamics of this type of image/illustration suggest a calm and ordered feeling, everything in this type of illustration may be relied upon and sturdy.

Which is your favourite composition?  Explain why you feel it is the most successful.

After experimenting a great deal, I ended up with two favourites:

Picture 4 – Because it creates enough visual space, it has a foreground object, a middle distance object and something in the far distance.  It has a strong sense of calm about it, something ordered, not chaotic, but also leads your eye into it.

Picture 6 – Also creates visual space, but has a pleasing quality with the wavy horizon.  The child again leads the eye into the illustration, as if on a small trip or journey.