♦♦[ART] Composition demands Intent: How Illustrators Captivate and Storytellers Propel
There’s no single formula for good composition. There’s only clarity of intent. The question isn’t — Is it Right? The question is — Right for what?
What works in one image fails in another. Because composition isn’t fixed — it’s situational. Composition is like cars: sometimes you want a McLaren, sometimes a Defender. It’s easier to drive to the beach in a Fiat Spiaggina and take a coffin to the cemetary in a Cadillac Miller-Meteor hearse.
This weekend, staring at my half-finished painting of the Roman theater in Verona, that familiar question crept in: “Is it done?” I found myself hunting for dead zones, those patches of negative space not yet activated, still lying dormant on the canvas. This moment of questioning is where real composition happens. It’s not about solving some universal riddle, but about directing traffic. It’s about deciding whether your viewer’s eye should linger or leap.
Ever notice how your eye physically can’t stay still on a Mignola page? That’s not accidental.
Illustrators Captivate — Storytellers Advance
Drew Struzan’s original Star Wars poster sings with centripetal intent. Luke, Leia, and Han anchor your gaze while Vader’s silhouette looms. Classic pyramid composition. It holds you in its orbit. Flip to a page of Mark Schultz’s Xenozoic Tales, though, and something different happens—your eye can’t help but slide from panel to panel with the momentum of a landslide. One captures, one propels.
In short:
Illustration composition is centripetal — it pulls attention inward.
Sequential composition is centrifugal — it pushes attention outward. (in a specific direction. Not just spinning recklessly ‘away.’)
And yet. Some artists manage both tricks simultaneously.
1. Composition for Illustration: Capturing and Holding
When your goal is to capture and captivate, your tools are all about gravity — creating a visual orbit around your subject.
Top Priorities
Contrast & Focal Hierarchy – The eye always moves from dark to light, complex to simple, sharp to soft. I learned this the hard way after finishing three paintings where everyone asked, “What am I supposed to look at first?” Establish a clear primary focal point before anything else.
Value Structure – I could stare at Chris Samnee’s work for hours—his stark blacks and brilliant whites organizing chaos into clarity. I’ve learned the hard way: you can mask weak values with flashy colors for about three seconds before a viewer’s brain catches on. A composition needs to read in grayscale first, always.
Edge Control – Hard edges pull focus. Soft edges release it. I spent years overworking backgrounds before realizing they were competing with my focal points. Painful lesson. Strategic contrast of edges keeps the viewer’s eye inside the frame.
Color Saturation & Temperature – Warm colors advance, cools recede; saturated colors command attention. The poster for Vertigo is a masterclass in this—that spiral of red against cool blues creates an almost physical pull. Use saturation sparingly and intentionally.
Detail Distribution – The brain loves complexity — but only in moderation. I overwork my imaginative landscapes, adding details to every damn tree in my fairy treehouse cities. But I’ve become comfortable simplifying and focusing my paintings from life, like my Roman theater in Verona. Much more effective.
Compositional Framing – Use shapes, foliage, architecture, or lighting to frame your subject and contain the viewer’s gaze. Sean Gordon Murphy has this visual hierarchy under masterful control.
Supporting Tools
Repetition with variation (echoing shapes or rhythms)
Atmospheric perspective
Implied lines toward the subject
Strategic asymmetry for tension
Dead zones kill good art. Period. They’re like the doldrums—everything dies, no movement, no oxygen.
2. Composition for Sequential Storytelling: Directing and Propelling
When your goal is to capture and progress, you’re conducting time through space. You don’t want your reader to linger too long — you want them to flow.
Top Priorities
Panel Flow (Eye Path) – The invisible spine of storytelling. The reader should move through panels without hesitation. Arrange word balloons, gestures, and leading lines to guide the eye naturally. Even Frazetta occasionally let a background area slide. Don’t tell the fanboys.
Value Rhythm Across Panels – High-contrast panels attract attention, low-contrast panels release it. Use this rhythm to control pacing and emotional beats. Mike Mignola’s Hellboy is spot-black mastery. He creates dark, contrasting rhythms and geometries that propel you forward.
Spot Blacks and Negative Space – Bold black shapes anchor the eye and steer movement. White gutters and open areas provide breathing room and momentum. Modesty Blaise strips are textbooks on this technique.
Balloon Placement & Reading Order – Balloons aren’t decorative. They’re your primary rhythm device. Balloon placement is perfect in Kali by Sammelin—each word bubble functioning like a musical note. Place them to lead the reader’s eye, not fight it.
Gesture Direction & Gaze – The direction characters look or move establishes the next point of attention. Perhaps nobody did this better than Carl Barks in his Scrooge and Donald work—their gestures practically push you to the next panel. Never ignore where your characters are pointing the reader.
Panel Size & Shape as Tempo – Large panels slow time; small panels accelerate it. Jeff Smith’s Bone is certainly high on the list of mastery here. I still catch myself fighting the urge to add just one more highlight to that edge. Restraint isn’t natural for most of us.
The Composition Paradox
The truth is, we’re all dancing between these two worlds. Comic artists do interior pages and also covers. Sometimes we hold attention, other times we push it forward. My own journey through painting and sequential art has taught me that mastering both approaches makes each more potent.
Those fairy treehouse cities I can’t stop overworking? They’d benefit from some comic artist restraint. The stark simplicity I’ve found in my plein air work? It brings focus to my sequential pages that was missing before.
Here’s what I’ve come to believe: the most powerful visual communicators aren’t those who rigidly follow either path, but those who understand when to deploy each weapon in their arsenal. When to hold, when to release. When to whisper, when to shout.
Next time you’re staring at your own work, wondering if it’s finished, ask yourself not just “Is this done?” but “Where do I want my viewer to go from here?” If the answer is “deeper in,” then embrace illustration’s gravitational pull. If the answer is “onward,” then harness the comic artist’s forward momentum.
The beauty is in knowing the difference—and in having both tools at your disposal when you need them.
To wrap a bow on it:
Comic panels are like dominoes.
Illustrations are like whirlpools.
Which one are you trying to create today?
Charles
2 November 2025