Composition

by which I mean the visual arts term: the arrangement of forms on the page. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, mostly because I suck at it. The most useful insight I've had from all this thinking is to define composition as an expression, in other words a gesture that creates an immediate impression, the way a smile or a frown does. Give it a try. Look at a painting for its expression. Don't think about the subject matter, skill, technique, just the expression. A quick glance should be enough to tell you, though some expressions are cloudy, or draw you in. Look at the entire painting as though it is a face. But do not look for eyes, nose, mouth, look only for an expression. This is useful to me because I have a cartoonist's knack for expression, and NO knack for arrangement.