Da Vinci's The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne is a great example of triangular compositions due to its complexity and the amount of triangles it really uses. Each of the people depicted, Mary, Jesus, and Anne, all form their own individual triangles with their bodies. Anne is more of an equilateral triangle, sitting up straight with her arm out sharply to the side. Mary is a much longer triangle, and her head, neck, and shoulders make one continuous straight line, all the way down to her hip, then across to her hands, and back up to her head. Jesus and the lamb together also form a sort of equilateral triangle. These three separate triangles, in turn, make up one large triangle, from Anne's head, to Mary's hip, to Jesus's hands and the lambs tail. All of these elements really pull the viewer's eye around the painting.
Use of Circle in Composition
This Tibetan Five Deity Mandala, along with many other classic Tibetan art, use circular composition very heavily. Every deity is painted with very curving, flowing lines, almost all in the same sitting position, or some variant of it. While the people are each position in more of a triangular fashion, they each are surrounded by their own circular space. They also all have halos around their heads. These two sets of circles, as well as the series of circles within each other in the center, really pull the viewer around the entire painting, allowing them to not just see the deities in the center, but along the top and bottom rows as well.
Use of Negative Space
I chose to include all of these as examples of Negative Space because I think it is important to recognize just how important and effective the use of negative space can be in branding. Logos are a great place to use negative space because logos have very limited color palettes. The most successful logos are simple and easy to understand and remember. The examples below are all fairly simple but also reinforce the name or message of the company by providing a visual representation.
Use of Contrast
De Koppelaarster (The Matchmaker) by Gerrit van Honthorst is a great example of the use of contrast to enhance an image. Illuminating the woman at the right makes her seem young and friendly, innocent and joyous. The darkness of the middle character adds to his mystery and signals of potential danger. The character the left, however, illuminated only with a little light on the face, warns the viewer that the woman may be in trouble or is being conned. This faint light casts shadows in was to make the character at the left appear sinister and up to no good. In this situation, the lighting and contrast is incredibly important in telling the narrative of the painting.
Creating Depth
Diego Velázquez's Las Meninas is a great example of depth in a painting. Velázquez easily could have painting this scene with a plain wall, without paintings, without a door, without the perspective of a corner, and even without the people farther back. He could have simply painted the young girl and the women tending to her. Instead, he painted the entire scene and all of the people and objects in it, including the door to whatever lies outside, the steps on the other side, the man, perhaps the young girl's groom, waiting for her. There is a clear painting in the background that hints at being the girl's parents, raising the question, where are they now? Is this why the young girl has to marry so young? Adding this depth makes the painting all the more real and further adds to the message being conveyed, or even the narrative being told.
