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Think of this as a useful tool instead of a strict rule. How can you begin using this magical ratio in your artwork to create compelling pieces? If the idea of using math sounds like a stifling idea to you, you may find it helpful to consider it a general guideline.Ī general rule or theme to create from can lend you more freedom in your pieces as the guesswork of placement and proportions will be minimized. Image Source Creating Divine Compositions In Your Art So seeing the golden ratio with its main subjects of interest oriented this way brings us pleasure through its beauty. The idea is that we will feel pleasure when our eyes find something on the horizon helpful to survival, such as shelter, a mate, or food. How does this relate to the golden mean and how we create art? We have evolved to do the same, and according to Bejan, shapes that are true to the golden ratio facilitate easier scanning and the transmission of images to the brain through vision. Animals (including human beings) have our vision oriented horizontally.Ī wild animal scans the horizon for danger, allowing him to both move faster and see better. Some believe its familiarity is what creates its beauty, as it can be found even in the human body.Ī Duke University professor, Adrian Bejan, believes that he’s figured out why we find images honoring the golden ratio so visually pleasing.Īnd according to him, our eyes are capable of interpreting pictures with the ratio quicker than any other type of image. Seeing this ratio feels undeniably, intuitively right to our brains. The golden ratio is a powerful number present in and woven into our world. Research suggests that even tiny changes that make an image closer to this ratio greatly impact the brain of the one looking at it. Truthfully, scientists haven’t pinned down the exact reason why the human eye is so drawn to images with the golden ratio. This may not seem that interesting, until you realize that this sequence can be repeated perfectly and infinitely within the section.īut that’s just the beginning. The golden mean ratio can often be found depicted as a square and rectangle forming a big rectangle. There is something intrinsically fascinating about this pattern, which manages to balance asymmetry and symmetry in a visually pleasing fashion. This ratio has been used, both intentionally and unintentionally, by designers and artists for ages. The Fibonacci sequence truly is a fascinating rabbit hole (excuse the pun) to venture down. Taking it a step further, you’ll find it in the reproduction patterns of rabbits. You will find it in shells, plants, and bone structures. The sequence of seemingly random numbers is fascinating because it appears frequently throughout nature, for starters. This ratio is also called The Divine Proportion, phi, The Divine Section, The Fibonacci Ratio, The Golden Mean, or denoted by a phi symbol (Φ). Wait, come back! I know math can be an intimidating (or if you’re me, downright scary) subject for many of us artists, but I promise I’m getting to the good stuff soon. The ratio is 1 to 1.618 (or 1.618033988749895…) and this number is, unlike pi, a quadratic equation solution. It’s an irrational number (like pi) that has some unusual properties. So, what is the golden ratio and how is it relevant to your art?
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Creating Divine Compositions In Your Art.Thankfully, there are some fairly easy ways you can begin incorporating this golden ratio in art to create visually stunning work. It’s been used for centuries but is still unknown to many modern artists.
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There’s a formula that can help you with that. Want to learn the secret to balance in your art? Would you like access to a tool that geniuses from the Renaissance age implemented in their work?
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