Changing the Shape Can Change Your Life!!

NEW WORKS FROM THE STUDIO OF ART BY WENDY

Square or Rectangle? Portrait or Landscape? 

The usual!  But suddenly a new shape appears and changes everything!!

That's what happened to me.  The Oval arrived!!

A commission came my way involving roses and an oval - working in that shape was a new one for me and as you can imagine a challenge.  They loved my Summer Roses (last post) but wanted them in graphite and in an oval shape.  I started with the usual steps: layout, drew the shape, refined them into flowers and started to work. But whenever I stood back to see how things were going I felt disorientated.  It seems my eye is tuned to the rectangle and I found it very hard to focus on the oval.  It was a very strange feeling, I couldn't really see if things were balanced.  Here is the finished piece, take a look.

IN FULL BLOOM - Graphite - 9 x 14 

Hard to see balance, isn't it?  

The blank areas on the page really throw your eye around, don't they. I fiddled a bit and then came up with my plan:  get the mat cut!  What a difference!  Now when I step back, everything falls into place and makes total sense.  I am really pleased with how it worked out.  

Here is "In Full Bloom" complete with it's mat.   

This was a really interesting project, working with a new shape really does inspire you to step out of the box. Have you ever tried working with unusual shapes? Any challenges with them?   What was your solution?
Have a good day,
Wendy