How to Use the Rule of Thirds to Improve Your Paintings

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Are you struggling to create balanced drawing and paintings that really pull the viewer in? How can you start incorporating smart composition design into your creative process so that you can create better original art?


A major mistake many beginner artists make is attempting to copy reference photos exactly as they are, without considering composition.

It is essential to learn about this art fundamental because 99% of the reference photos we're planning on using for drawings or paintings will not lead to the best results exactly as they are.

Even those that have been taken by yourself or professional photographers. 

You want to be able to remove, relocate, enhance or add extra elements with ease if it'll improve the composition.

Not to mention, it's important to bring yourself into your art by making stylistic choices.


Someone can be incredibly skilled with a drawing or painting medium, but if their composition design is poor, even art that's technically good can fall flat. 


In the video below, I explain essential information on composition that all artists should be aware of, and how you can start using the Rule of Thirds to improve in this area.
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Composition in Art

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Composition design involves the selection of elements you'll be bringing into a drawing or painting, as well as their arrangement in space. 


3 Key aspects to have in mind to ensure that your compositions will be successful are:

a) Establishing a focal point:

There should always be visual hierarchy in your drawings or paintings. Where do you want to call the viewer's attention to first and how are you going to develop a heavier visual weight in this area?

Make sure you're accounting for positive (active areas) and negative spaces (inactive areas) because they play off each other and are both essential when striving to create balance. 

Remember that, if everything is equally important, then nothing is that important. 


b) Achieving a sense of balance: 

Radial, symmetrical and asymmetrical are the three types of balance in art.

Usually, we want to achieve asymmetrical balance because this is more interesting to look at and, through strategic planning, we can keep the viewer's eyes flowing through the piece for a longer time. 

Achieving a sense of balance has a lot to do with effectively developing lesser and heavier visual weights throughout the piece. This is done through creating greater contrast, manipulating color, detail, playing with size/scale of different elements, etc. 


c) Visual Flow: 

As artists, we want to pull the viewer in and keep their eyes flowing through the piece for as long as possible. 

We do this through establishing a focal point, developing a heavier visual weight in this area, and creating visual pathways (literal and/or suggested). 

How we group elements together, overlap them, and position elements in space is part of creating that visual flow.

Sometimes, visual pathways are created in a more literal sense, such as when we're drawing or painting a scene that includes a river, street or some kind of linear perspective.

These create a visual path that the viewer's eyes will naturally want to "flow" through, so it is essential to give thought to how they will be leading to or away from the focal point. 


​The Rule of Thirds supports us in achieving all of these things!
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​The Rule of Thirds

The Rule of Thirds "grid".

The Rule of Thirds is a guide that artists and photographers have been using for a very long time, which helps position the focal point effectively in space and allows us to more easily create asymmetrical balance. 


This is based on what we, as humans, find aesthetically pleasing and interesting.  

The idea is simple. You divide your picture plane into 9 equal squares or rectangles by placing two vertical lines and two horizontal lines that are equally distanced apart. 

*You can do this by dividing the total width and length measurements of your paper, canvas, etc., by three using a calculator. This is going to tell you were to place your lines. You'd place these lines both over your reference photo and over your drawing/painting substrate. 

Once you have your "grid" set, you'll place your focal point right on one of the 4 intersections provided by the vertical and horizontal lines, or along one of these 4 lines. 

Secondary elements are arranged around the focal point. These are meant to support the focal point, and not distract away from it. 

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Below is an example of photo I edited in Photoshop, before using it for painting purposes. I placed the focal point off center, and enhanced colors. This is an example where I used the Rule of Thirds loosely. 

Bringing down the horizon line and leaving more space for the sky is an excellent choice for cloudscapes or when the action is taking place above it. 

On the other hand, bringing up the horizon line provides more space for the ground area. This is a great option when the focal point or action is taking place on ground level. 

Deciding on the location of the horizon line should be one of the first things you should do when working on a landscape or scene. 

Check out the video to learn many more tips that will help you improve your compositions so that you can take your art to the next level!

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Original photo and final painting.

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For a complete list of my current favorite art supplies, go here.

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Improving your understanding of composition and taking time to plan and prepare before starting with a new piece, will take your art from good to great. 


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