Cropping

A photographer friend, Morley Johnson, forwarded to me a most interesting newsletter. It's posted as "the most comprehensive (free) resource for artists worldwide" and is written twice weekly by Robert Genn. The subject of the one Morley sent is titled "Delicious Cropping". It is suggested that finished work be cropped to find interesting sections within it.

This sparked me to create a small sunset piece inspired by my favorite little section within the large piece, "Big Red at Sunset', that I had made a couple of weeks ago. Each time I looked at the detail shots of it, I really liked the sun at the horizon and the surrounding clouds. Here is the new finished small piece, "Macatawa Sunset". It measures 9"x12":


Here's the mini sunset piece overlaying the larger work (30"x24"). It looks almost seamless even though I did not refer to the larger one while making it.


Mr. Genn states that by cropping a finished piece "an artist can understand more about his or her personal style, mannerisms and "signature." As well as having a compositional diagnostic, you enter the informative world of the "post-creative revised aspect." He goes on to say, "You'll surprise yourself at how delicious some areas are--how you were on top of your form or in control. You might just surprise yourself with hitherto unnoticed spots of beauty, as well as mysterious flashes of energy that you didn't know were there. You'll also discover how a conceived composition is often not as interesting as are some of its isolated parts."

If this piece had not been a present to my son, I would've been sorely tempted to cut it up. As it turns out, it was a joy to create this delightful little piece and I intend to make at least one, or maybe two more.

To read the complete newsletter by Robert Genn go to:
http://www.painterskeys.com/letters.asp?let=050906

To see some fantasticly "cropped" photo art created by my brother-in-law, Kemper B. Durand go to : http://durandphotos.com/

"English Yellow #2" (24"x 24") hangs on our wall in Knoxville.