The Golden Ratio Revisited
August 17, 2007
Have you ever noticed you sometimes you run into an idea again and again?
I’ve been experiencing that with regard to the golden section, or golden ratio. I’d certainly heard of the concept a number of times in the course of my art education. But a couple of years ago I wrote about artist Sydney McGinley (The Pastel Journal, December, 2005, page 28), who very carefully uses the theory in her compositions. I loved her work and found the ideas fascinating.
Over the ensuing months, I played around with the measurements, and used the golden section sometimes in working out compositions. I found the mathematics involved were often a little more trouble than I wanted to take or had time for. My shortcut has been to divide a rectangle into thirds in both directions, and then to place focal points on the intersections formed by the lines. While it’s not quite exactly the golden section, it’s a quick and easy method of locating a focal point off center and in a pleasing position. It seems to work even when the rectangle is not in the proper proportion of 1:1.618.
The Tire Swing, 16x20 pastel, by Maggie Price.
Dividing the rectangle (which is not itself into proportions fitting the golden ratio) into thirds gives a guideline for placement of focal points or significant elements. I deliberately placed the large tree group on a line and the junction of water and flowers on an intersection.)
This rectangle is in proportion to the golden ratio. The small square is the location of the focal point using the golden ratio. The red lines show where the lines dividing the rectangle into thirds intersect. It’s not far off!
At the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., I saw a painting which reminded me of the use of the golden ratio, and then found a book on the subject. (See below, Learning from the Masters.) I spent the next few evenings reading the book and thinking about how I could use the theory.
Then at the Cincinnati Art Museum, my husband found a new book on the works of Maxfield Parrish, an artist he’s admired since childhood (Maxfield Parrish and the American Imagists, by Laurence S. Cutler, Judy Goffman Cutler and the National Museum of American Illustration). According to the authors, Parrish usually employed the golden ratio in his compositions.
Arriving home after a month’s absence, I sorted through my piles of mail and publications. I took a break to read the September issue of The Artist’s Magazine, which contains an article by Butch Krieger on the golden ratio. It’s a great article.
Too many coincidences to ignore—I think maybe I'll explore this theory a little more in my next few compositions.