Harmonic Ratios

There is music wherever there is harmony, order and proportion; and thus far we may maintain the music of the spheres; for those well ordered motions, and regular paces, though they give no sound unto the ear, yet to the understanding they strike a note most full of harmony.

                                                Thomas Browne

 My new year's present to myself was Juliette Aristides book Classical Painting Atelier.  According to the jacket "Aristides uses the works of old masters and today's most respected realist artists to demonstrate and teach the principles of realist painting, taking students step by step through the learning curve, yet allowing them to work at their own pace".  This book is just what I have been looking for ~ and anyone who is interested in joining the new renaissance of classical, realistic painting will be delighted with this book as well.  Besides giving an outline of the basic steps in learning to paint, timeless principles and practices are covered as well.  I have just begun the chapter on composition ~ an in depth discussion of how the harmonic ratios discovered by Pythagoras came to be used by artists to divide up their pictorial space.  I had already chosen the top photo above for a drawing exercise.  The second photo is a copy of the armature of the rectangle used by artists to create an infinite number of compositions.  The third photo shows a portion of the armature sketched on to the photo from which I am working.  One of the most important thing about any work of art is its composition and being able to recognize the elements of a good composition is paramount to the work's success.  Ms Aristides book, so far, has been a great resource on explaining the harmonic ratios used in successful arrangements within a painting ~ fascinating the extent to which master artists of the past relied on geometry for their work!