Exercise: Viewpoint

I chose the word summertime and these are the best of the photos: 

I drew some thumbnails in square format using a stiff paper view finder, which made it much easier.

My favourite is the one to the far left of the second row down because the composition is simple (because it is a close up), this also gives it a feeling of  intimacy, as does the sense that you are looking into someone’s beach bag, or even into their face because of the sunglasses. The shape of the zip softens the edges of the frame and works well with the outline of the sun lotion bottle.  It has the essence of summer because of the immediately recognisable forms of the sun glasses, sun lotion and sea shells. 

This is my line visual, which I drew from the still life:

Living close to the ocean, the summertime for me means having a beach bag ‘on standby’- settling down to sunbathe with a book for an hour or so is a special treat and a self contained and private experience, which again sits well with the intimate composition.

My overall composition was much larger, and really only worked as a whole when seen from in front and above. I think the individual elements were lost when I changed viewpoint so I tended to be drawn to details, particularly to this section which worked best when seen from above, at a slight angle.

Because I chose an ‘intimate’ section of the composition, the square format worked better than the rectangular view finder of the camera as it is compact, thereby giving a sense of containment of the forms within the frame and complimenting their relationship to each other.

I’m not sure that the texture of the towel works and if I were to develop this into a final artwork I might choose a different texture for the foreground items to rest on, such as a blanket. Also, if I were to repeat the exercise I might change the composition to include more of the book title ‘The Shell Collector’ which would further unite the individual elements.