Mohamed  Hirji

Fine Art

Mar 31, 2018

Composition In Art 3

Part 3: Rule Of Thirds, How Did It Come About?


The rule of thirds (RoT) that I discussed earlier is a principle of design to present a more aesthetically pleasing arrangements of the main focus of the painting. It is most likely derived from the “Golden Ratio” which has been variously known as “The Golden Mean”, the “Devine proportion” etc. It is based on the Greek letter Phi 1.618 and therefore the Golden ratio is 1.618:1. A very detailed, complicated discussion and fascinating examples of this in various disciplines including Art, Architecture, Religion, Nature, Beauty etc. can be found at this website  https://www.goldennumber.net


So how is the Golden Ratio connected to the rule of thirds? This is a controversial subject. However it seems that instead of going through the tedious geometric and mathematical calculations of finding the sweet spots (intersecting points in blue), by the Golden Ratio (fig 1).

Fig 1 Grid derived by the Golden Ratio. Sweet Spots indicated in blue

An easier and quicker method of the RoT discussed previously was devised (fig 2) ,

 Fig 2 The Grid derived by the Rule Of Thirds

 Fig 3  The Red lines represent RoT and Green lines the Golden ratio

As you will appreciate the sweet spots in both these methods approximate very closely (fig 3) The red grid lines represent the RoT and the green grid lines represent the Golden ratio. So the simple method works.


It however goes without saying that every rule needs to be broken from time to time, especially when composing symmetrical objects. As an example it would be a terrible design to place this ornate, hand carved wooden door in Zanzibar at an off centre sweet spot determined by the RoT rather than smack in the centre.

A house door in Zanzibar

Incidentally have you noticed the integration of the grid of the rule of thirds in most digital camera viewfinders? This is to enable neophytes to take more pleasing off centred photographs of their subjects using the rule of thirds.


More art related design principles will be discussed in my next blog/ newsletter.  Consider subscribing to my newsletter for important updates.

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Mohamed Hirji