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The most common layout is a triangle. Okay, maybe it's not so common, but it does make for interesting pictures. The bottom two points serve to capture the viewer's eye and guide it up toward the top point. |
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Here is this triangle in
action. See how Knuckles, Sonic and the Floating Island form the points
of a triangle? Each of those objects have a certain mass--how much space
in the image they take up--and the triangle layout balances three masses.
The second example is a finished pic of my own that used the triangle layout. |
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Here is the inverted triangle layout. Can you guess where the focal point of this layout is? Yup, it's at the bottom. The placement of the masses guide your eye to the bottom of the image. |
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Here's an example of the inverted triangle. In case you can't tell what this very messy sketch is, its Super Sonic watching the Ark crash headlong toward Earth with the Finalhazard leading the way. Notice how the placement of the globe and of the Ark guide your eye down to Super Sonic. (In this case, the background is the whole focus of the picture.) |
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The spiral. The action starts out in the distance somewhere, and gets progressively closer and closer to the viewer, i.e. getting bigger and bigger. |
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As shown. Notice the drawings get bigger and more complex the larger they get. This uses perspective: the basic idea that the closer things are, the bigger they get. Often this layout yields spectacular drawings. |
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The X layout. This one tends to look stiff, but it's good for logos and things (stick some text between the branches of the X). |
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This is what the X layout looks like in practice. Its rather stiff and unattractive, unless you're going to draw a really rocking background, and even then it probably won't save it. I don't recommend this layout. |
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Hourglass. This is basically a triangle and an inverted triangle in the same image (yes, you CAN combine layouts, with amazing results!) You see this one used a lot in movie posters, like Star Wars. |
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The posters look something
like this. In the center are the main chars, below them are other characters/creatures/whatever,
and up at the top are the villain's eyes.
The other example is a "mixed" layout. There are two triangles at work, and a square. This means that first you see the three masses in the little triangle (Mecha, Robo Knux and Shadow), then you see the details in the square, then you notice the big triangle. Or vice versa. |
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The Z. This one is similar to the Spiral, but its more rigid and not as flowing, and you have less points in it. It, too moves from far away to very close. |
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Here's an example. Sonic
on the ground forms the nearest object, and the line of trees in the background
form the furthest line, and lead the eye off into the distance.
The second example is another of my own drawings with a pronounced Z layout that guides your eye through the image. |
