Sacrificing For the Greater Good

   This entry was originally posted on Tuesday, December 11, 2012

 

Yellowstone Gold (before)

There are times when we have painted something really awesome into our painting.

The object is well rendered, the texture may be awesome, and the concept is really cool.

However, it doesn't fit with the painting as a whole.

 

It is times like this that it is better to sacrifice this really awesome portion to the greater good of the overall painting.

 

For instance, in my painting of Yellowstone Gold, the dead tree near the bottom center had a beautiful trunk.

It was all twisty on the bottom and it looked really wonderful in the photograph.

I also like the concept of the dead tree because of battle with nature that is part of Yellowstone.

The earth sometimes just can only sustain growth for a short period of time.

 

However, when it was painted, I struggle with the composition.

The dead tree now stuck out like a sore thumb.

I had to make the decision to cut it down.

 The result is much better.

 

Yellowstone Gold, 20x24"