Rule Of Thirds

The Rule of Thirds is a compositional guideline. If you draw a "tic tac toe" board over the image, the eye will be naturally drawn to the four points where the lines meet. The truth behind this is that it's a Phi based division and not exactly one-third, but one third is close enough to get the effect you want.

Taught by Rob Kmiec at DigiPen?.

Copy/paste of critique left at: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/551994/#cid:3151445

The rule of thirds is quite simple, though the theory behind why it actually works is more complex. If you're not familiar with "phi," a quick Google search should give you some fun basics. Alas, you don't need to know how a door latch actually works to simply twist the knob and open it, though the gears are so very interesting.

The rule works like this: Draw a tic-tac-toe board on your page. The points where the lines meet up are the natural points where the eye is drawn to.

Naturally, the lines are to be drawn on the division of the thirds. That's why it's called "rule of thirds."

The lines themselves are also important, and if you line something up on (or near) them, it gives that item greater impact.

You can also create new "rule of thirds" within the image and subject. Don't know where to put a tattoo on someone? Use the rule of thirds on their arm!