Golden Spiral -Rule of Thirds in Art and Photography (2024)

This morning I started an abstract painting and it just was not working so I went back to the basics of composition and defining the points of interest and I tried to incorporate the “rule of thirds” and the “golden spiral” in my painting. So going back to basics I thought more about the composition. Composition is one of the most challenging yet powerful and exciting aspects of painting or photography. To me, it is the technical foundation of my painting. Without it, my paintings visually fall apart.

WHY: I have gone back to using the rule of thirds or the golden spiral in my paintings to make sure the painting is balanced and to ensure the viewers eye will move to key places of interest. I keep that in mind in the back of my subconscious - sort of. I use imaginary lines or places of interest or in some cases I actually mark off the canvas. Basically, I place the subjects or regions of painting or photograph so they are composed along imaginary lines which divide the image into thirds — both vertically and horizontally. I then place the image or key element where they intersect. I use the “Rule of Thirds” in my Photography also, — a simple principle that will help you to take well balanced and interesting photos making use of a natural tendency for the human eye to be drawn toward certain parts of an image.

In a similar way a good technique for landscape shots is to position horizons along one of the horizontal lines.

In learning how to use the rule of thirds to me the most important questions to be asking of yourself are:

• What are the points of interest in this paintint/shot?
• Where am I intentionally going to be placing them?

I also use the Golden Ratio. Leonardo Da Vinci has long been associated with the golden ratio. The Φ “phi” which equals approximately 1.618. This number is also commonly found in nature. Now before we get confused.

You start by drawing a main rectangle, which is drawn to a ratio of 1:1.618. If you draw a line inside the rectangle to form a perfect square, the remaining rectangle will have the same ratio as the main rectangle. You can keep doing this over and over forever.

Can rectangles using the Golden ratio appear to be more pleasing? Gustav Theodor Fechner, was a German philosopher, physicist and experimental psychologist in the 1860s. Fechner’s created an experiment where ten rectangles varying in their length-to-width ratios were placed in front of a subject, then they were asked to select the most pleasing one. Result: The rectangles close to the Golden Ratio Rectangle 1:1.618 were the favorites.

The Golden Spiral is pleasing to the eye. The Divine Proportion is often represented by the golden spiral. In a rectangle where the ratio of the larger side to the smaller one is the Divine Proportion. When drawing the Divine Proportion squares are formed from the original rectangle. Connecting the points where this series of “whirling squares” divides the sides will generate a logarithmic spiral that coils inward.

Here is the trick: If you place a point of interest on the smallest part of the spiral, the eye will naturally flow through the rest of the image. So, imagine this shape is placed over the image, and place your subject in the smallest part of the spiral. Also, I realized you can also flip or turn the spiral. The direction it heads isn’t important, it’s really about the shape and the distance between the loops that matters.

The Divine Proportion is a balance or fraction occurring in nature and design which is both aesthetically appealing and functional. The actual number is 1.618… and this number goes on forever. The divine proportion is geometric relationship that is seen in nature, used in art, and even modern design. Proportion by definition means balance or symmetry. So basically you want to create elements with pleasing or ideal proportions.

Many artists like myself use it literally or subliminally and have subsequently taken this idea and used it to plan their my painting compositions. I suppose, Leonardo DaVinci was probably the most famous artist to use the Golden Ratio in his paintings. Georges Seurat also used it. So if it is good enough for them then it certainly is for me. Shapes proportioned according to the golden ratio have long been considered aesthetically pleasing.

Why I use it? Balance. I use both the rule of thirds and the Golden Spiral. While the rule of thirds is the most widely known composition rule. I have been using Lightroom by Adobe for some time but just discovered you can use the overlay tool and crop more efficiently (Lightroom’s crop overlays are useful guides in composing the final image. … It has a series of built-in crop overlays that serve as useful guides when you’re cropping images. … When you’re using the crop tool, you can cycle through the different options by pressing O (for overlay).

Summary: Both the spiral and grid are good shapes to keep in mind as you compose your image. The golden ratio as either a spiral or a grid can help you to place your subject. If you place a point of interest on the smallest part of the spiral, the eye will naturally flow through the rest of the image. The rule of thirds is applied by aligning a subject with the guide lines and their intersection points, placing the horizon on the top or bottom line, or allowing linear features in the image to flow from section to section. The golden ratio can be used in more elegant ways to create aesthetics and visual harmony