What makes something interesting is not just what it is, but how it relates to other things in the space it occupies- spatial qualities.

Something that is very shaped-oriented, like a circle or square, can be boring if it does not relate to anything else. Or something tall and thin may look cool for a moment before it becomes boring because it disappears into the background.

In this article, we will discuss some ways to add interest through the spatial relation of your shapes. These concepts can be applied to drawings, paintings, graphic designs, and even three-dimensional forms such as sculptures and jewellery.

Interrelation of Shapes

The most basic way to apply the concept of spatial relations in art is by drawing related lines, circles, squares, and triangles. By doing so, you create patterns, which shift the focus onto their relationship with each other instead of being focused on alone.

Related shapes emphasize one another due to content (what they represent) and form (how they are constructed). Content could be characters talking, nature scenes, or whatever you want the audience to recognize. The form includes colour, line quality, and proportion.

Artists use symmetry, repetition, balance, unity, and rhythm to achieve harmony and cohesion in their works. Symmetry refers to having an equal amount of part A opposite part B. Repetition means to include the same element many times within a given area or structure.

Definition of spatial quality

Spatial quality is an element in a piece of media that adds value to it. They can be categorized as colour, shape, size, pattern or texture.

Colour is one of the most common spatial qualities in marketing materials. For example, red colours are often used to draw attention to products and/or services. The same goes for green! (Think about how many advertisements use grass as the background.)

The shape is another very popular way to add visual interest to something. An eye-catching circle, square, triangle or line will grab someone’s attention and make them want to read more about the product – even if they were not necessarily planning on buying it yet.

Size also plays a big part in drawing people’s eyes towards a product or idea. A large font bedazzles their mind with all sorts of thoughts. If you ever have trouble choosing between two fonts, choose the larger one. It takes up more space, creating mental pictures that help you form ideas about what the text means.

Patterns and textures likewise create strong impressions. I mentioned before how patterns apply to cars; this time we’ll look at some other examples. Cars with solid paint jobs are usually considered better than ones with flashy designs because they appeal to your average person. If you are looking to buy a car, chances are you don’t care too much about fancy wheels and trims.

Factors that affect the spatial quality

The overall look and feel of your image are influenced by several different factors, such as exposure, white balance, contrast, and texture or patterning.

Exposure is simply referring to how bright or dark you want an object in the photograph. A very light-exposed photo will be very blurry due to lack of intensity, while a completely overexposed photo will be black and white with no detail. An appropriate exposure gives you nice shades of grey and keeps everything visible.

Contrast refers to the difference between one area and another in the picture. There should be enough contrast for viewers to easily identify major shapes and features within the scene but not so much that it’s hard to see individual objects. This creates an effect similar to that of strong lighting — they stand out more clearly against the background.

White balance affects the colour of the pictures. When photographing natural scenes, we usually strive to use Daylight White Balance (DWA) because it produces colours that are closer to what our eyes would perceive in nature.

3D effects

A common way to add depth to your illustrations is by using three-dimensional (3D) textures or layers. These can be made of still images, videos, geometric shapes, or collaged pieces together.

Some artists even create their texture materials in photoshop or other software and then place these textures onto an illustration or cartoon piece manually.

Texture applications include creating new perspectives, adding depth to characters, and giving designs more dimension. Artists use them as a design tool to emphasize certain parts of an image or conceal weaker areas.

These types of textures are not only interesting to look at, but also apply a different feel to the image. For example, by moving away from hard lines and smooth surfaces, you have a textural painting!

There are many ways to achieve this effect, so do not worry about how to make your next illustration look like it has depth.