Part of Lesson Plan: Seeing Composition

Activity Overview / Details

Use the ten tips below to  fill your frames. Create six detailed examples.

Guidelines for Framing Exercise

1. Hold your frame about 8 inches from your eye and look at an object through it.

2. Look at what is inside the frame only. If it is outside of the frame, it doesn’t exist.

3. Do not think about what you are drawing, just what is inside the frame.

4. Look for the lines that make up the object.

5. Look for the shapes that the intersecting lines create.

6. Imagine that each edge of the frame is the edge of your paper or canvas.

7. Match the lines and shapes from the frame to your page by drawing what you see.

8. Use the frame as a “ruler” to measure the size of your object.

9. Check to see if your frame and the canvas edges match. Is it horizontal or vertical?

10. No empty spaces unless your object is suspended in space... not very likely!