[John Reidy]

I endorse and teach the concept of The Golden Ratio, The Golden Mean and the Golden Rectangle as a means to an end. I have found that many paintings tend to hold true to this concept. (I have also found many that don't). I believe it to be a good tool to have at your disposal. But, just as a carpenter has many tools, so must the artist. You just need to know what tool fits the job at hand.

Whether or not it was used by the Greeks is not important to me. What is important is the ability to design a good painting. A thorough understanding of this one concept is worth studying to learn all you can from it and then to know how and where to employ it.

As stated earlier in this thread, Composition is simply the arrangement of elements in a painting to please the eye. A good craftsman will use these elements to guide the viewer's eye throughout the painting and hold the attention and the focus of the viewer.

An interesting side note, I examined half a dozen or so paintings I had done before I had ever heard of The Golden Mean. I was surprised to see how easily all of them fit the design. This observation alone leads me to believe the merit of the theory.