Relief work and composition
This domain tests how you translate three-dimensional form into a shallow, bounded field: how much depth to compress, how figures overlap, and how a group is organised so the eye reads it in the intended order.
Relief types
- Bas-relief (low relief): forms project less than half their depth; edges are rounded, not undercut, so shadows stay soft.
- High relief: forms project by more than half; deep undercuts are possible but weaken the background.
- Sunken or intaglio relief: the figure is cut into the surface, as on many sealstones.
Rules of composition
Choose a ground plane and keep it consistent. Establish a centre of interest and arrange subordinate figures to lead to it. Use overlapping to create depth, and vary the angle of planes so that each figure catches light differently. Keep heads at a common level (isocephaly) only when hierarchy, not realism, is intended; otherwise use scale to show importance. Leave breathing space around the main mass - negative space is part of the design. Rhythm comes from repeated curves or intervals, not from filling every gap.
Worked example
A three-figure relief of a mother and two children: place the mother centrally and slightly forward, overlap the taller child's shoulder against her arm, and set the smaller child lower and turned inward. Tilt the mother's torso a few degrees so its plane differs from the background; the silhouette then separates without any undercutting.
Traps
Treating relief as a flat drawing with lumps; undercutting a low relief until it becomes a broken high relief; a background that tilts or waves; figures that all face the viewer with identical lighting; crowding the border so the composition feels trapped.