Pictorial Composition (Composition in Art) by Henry Rankin Poore

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Pictorial Composition by Henry Rankin Poore

This was the first book I read on composition. It covers the basics and was very easy to understand and apply. I still return to it, and if you read Rex Vicat Cole’s book on the Anatomy of Trees, he often cites this book when discussing compositional issues.

As you can see, the graphics are mostly simple black and white, but still very helpful. The text is good, with enough description to really help you get the gist of the idea.