The Rule of Thirds Simplified

Today, I’d like to share an easy way to design your artwork: The rule of thirds simplified. The method I’m about to explain is the way I compose almost all of my landscapes. It also works with other subjects.

Composing By the Rule of Thirds

There are a couple of reasons to divide your artwork into thirds horizontally and vertically.

The first reason as that this method clearly reveals the best places to put the major elements in your composition.

Second, it’s a good guide to help you avoid placing major elements too close to the edges. Whenever you put major elements too close to the edges, you risk leading the viewer’s eye out of the picture. You don’t want that.

It’s also a good way to avoid placing your subject in the center. Most of the time, you don’t want a centered subject, either.

Here’s how it works.

Step 1: Define the Picture Plane

The first step is deciding on the size of your drawing and defining the picture plane on your paper. The picture plane is the area on the paper that your drawing will actually take up. I usually mark it as a simple box drawn on my paper as shown here.

I like to draw these lines all the way across the paper so they remain clearly visible even after I’ve worked on the artwork a while.

For this sample, I used Polychromos black on white Pastelmat. I don’t usually use such a dark color for this process. Instead, I chose a color that’s just enough darker than the paper to be seen. However, a color like that wouldn’t show up in a scan. So if you try this simplified rule of thirds method, chose your colors accordingly.

You can also define the picture plane with tape. Use the method that works best for you.

Step 2: Divide the Picture Plane into Thirds

Next, divide the picture plane into thirds horizontally and vertically. This is easiest if your picture plane is evenly divisible by 3. For example, if your picture plane is 9 inches wide and 6 inches tall, then the dividing lines will be 3 inches apart side-to-side and 2 inches apart top-to-bottom.

That’s a lot easier to measure than working with fractions, but you can divide the picture plane into thirds no matter what size your drawing may be. It’s not important to be absolutely accurate in dividing the picture plane, but you should get as close as you can.

You’ll notice that my grid lines don’t extend to the edge of the paper. I do that on purpose. I want them to disappear totally by the time the artwork is finished.

Drawing them only to the edges of the picture plane also helps avoid the confusion of too many lines all the way across the paper.

But this is just the way I do things. It’s okay to extend all the lines to the edge of the paper.

Step 3: Design Your Composition

All of these lines help you compose your artwork. That’s because the best place to position the major elements of your composition is on or near the four intersections where a vertical line crosses a horizontal line. I’ve circled them below.

As you can see, there are four intersections in the picture plane. Any one of those intersections is a good place to put your center of interest.

For example, when I compose a landscape, I place the center of focus (the most important element in the landscape) on or hear one of these intersections.

It doesn’t matter which intersection you choose, though the location will affect the composition.

It’s also not important to be exactly on the intersection, but the center of interest should be close.

Step 4: Sketch in the Composition

The next step for me is sketching the composition right on the paper when I’m doing a landscape. I don’t draw much detail at this stage because I’ve found it unnecessary.

Instead, I decide what will be the most important part of the landscape—a tree, maybe—and put that at or near one of the four intersections.

Then I decide what else to put into the landscape and sketch in those elements. If any of them are also important, I try to place them on or near one of the three remaining intersections.

That’s what I’ve done with this landscape. The largest tree will be the most important part of the landscape, so I placed it on the lower left intersection. In this sample, the tree also reaches nearly to the upper left intersection. That’s perfectly okay.

Then I sketched in the rest of the landscape around the tree.

As I mentioned above, I used Polychromos Black to make these samples on white Pastelmat. The resulting marks are much too dark to be easily covered, especially since this landscape is light in value.

So before I start applying color, I’ll use mounting putty, tape, or an eraser to lighten the grid lines, and possibly also the sketch lines.

You can do the same if you draw on a dark paper with a light color, but get the grid lines too light.

But I Don’t Draw Directly on the Drawing Paper

That’s okay! Take the same steps, but as follows.

Step 1: Mark the picture plane on your drawing paper. This will help you place your line drawing when you’re ready to transfer it.

Step 2: Duplicate the picture plane on a separate sheet of paper.

Step 3: Divide the picture plane into thirds

Step 4: Design your composition. You have the option with this process of making the line drawing as detailed as you like. You can even add a bit of shading if you like.

Step 5: Transfer your finished line drawing to your drawing paper by whichever method you prefer.

The Rule of Thirds Simplified

And that’s the Rule of Thirds simplified. It’s a quick way to compose a landscape or any other type of drawing. It’s also it’s easy to remember and easy to use.

One warning, though. This method of composition isn’t always the best method. Yes, it’s a great way to help you avoid putting the important parts of your drawing in dead center, or way off to one edge or another.

But there may be times when you want your main subject in the center or to one side or another. You are an artist, after all, and part of creating the artwork you want to create might be breaking the rule of thirds.

It’s still important to understand the rule, before you really know when and how to break it!

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