Do you struggle to come up with composition ideas after one or two? Here’s a bunch of prompts that might inspire something unexpected.
If you’ve got a D20 on hand, roll for a random idea!
- Low, or high camera angle
- Detail or very close shot
- Try the moment before, or after the action
- Compose with triangles, spirals, or rectangles
- Compose with parallel lines, or radial lines
- Crop the main figure
- Focus on designing the negative space
- Flatten the perspective
- Put all the action at the top, or the bottom
- Put all the action in a narrow strip, or a bold graphic shape
- Spot a bright color, or highest or lowest value, in specific places
- Invert the positive and negative shapes
- Repeat elements in a pattern, then break it
- Try a visual frame story (a painting of an art object in a different medium)
- Hide a second-read image in the overall composition, or in the shadows
- How would a specific film director, or specific artist frame it?
- How would a trained dancer, or a specific character actor pose for it?
- Make the figures touch in some way
- Engage the viewer’s senses other than vision
- How would it look with a completely different genre of music for a soundtrack?
You can combine these for even more ideas to try!
This is a fantastic idea! I’ll have to try it out on my next set of thumbnails. It’s really easy to get stuck in a rut dog the same things, so I’m looking forward to testing it out. Thanks again!
I hope these prompts can help to lead you down some unexpected and fruitful paths!
Good luck! I’m looking forward to trying these out on my next thumbnails too 🙂
Love a random table for drawing!
This is a super inspiring list of prompts, thank you ! It gave me tons of ideas just reading through it.
Could you expand a bit on number 14 ? I don’t understand what you mean with this one.
I shared it on an art discord and we’re thinking of trying your prompts through a little community challenge.
Sure, for #14 I was thinking about paintings featuring mosaics, tapestries, embroidery in a dress or cloak, a painting or sculpture in the background, that kind of thing. An art object could be telling part of the story.
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This is such a great idea! I can’t wait to give it a try on my next set of thumbnails. It’s easy to fall into a routine of doing the same things over and over, so I’m excited to mix things up. Thanks again!
This is such a cool resource! I always struggle with composition, so these prompts are super helpful. Gonna try these out for my next sketch session for sure! Thanks for sharing!