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Developing ideas - AQAExploring composition in expressive work

Developing ideas is part of the creative process for artists and designers. By exploring and refining ideas, effective decisions can be made about the final piece of artwork or design solution.

Part of Art and DesignPortfolio and External Assessment

Exploring composition in expressive work

Student pen, ink and wash portrait of older man
Changing the angle of a portrait and the distance from your subject can make your composition more dramatic, as in this student artwork
A series of development studies of a still life based on cakes
Development for a still life could involve using different viewpoints and changing arrangements, as this student has done

You should make development studies, such as drawings and paintings to show experimentation with composition. If you are working in 3D, you might make sketches and .

There are a number of different ways composition can be developed:

  • Move objects around in a still life or change the pose in portraiture or figure composition.
  • Try different arrangements, eg linear, triangular or circular compositions.
  • Change how natural, organised, busy or sparce your composition is.
  • Use different amounts of , showing more or less background.
  • Experiment with to draw the viewer's eye into the composition.
  • Change the height and angle of your viewpoint.
  • Use frames within frames eg looking through objects to frame elements of the composition.
  • Create a cropped composition by zooming in to a specific area.
  • Try different backgrounds.

Using technology

Title reading Development. 3 drawings of a sunny coast with hills and trees.
This student has experimented with different compositions. When designing a landscape, work in layers - think about the foreground, midground and background.

Taking photographs of different arrangements can help development:

  • You can try out different viewpoints and arrangements quickly.
  • It is easy to change between landscape and portrait format to try different effects.
  • The camera's viewfinder can be used to 'frame' compositions and preview the result.
  • Working from photographs can be more practical for subjects that might move or where conditions might change.
  • New compositions can be created by cropping existing images digitally.
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