With Or Without? Survey Says…
- At February 07, 2017
- By katzp
- In Behind The Scenes, Process, Recent Work
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One of the things I love about watercolor is the brilliance of the pure white paper. To preserve that freshness, I’m often inclined to leave a lot of the white paper showing. – especially in some of the vignettes that I create.
On a recent excursion with the Saskatoon Plein Air painting group, I sketched a sweet little daffodil blooming in the Mendel Conservatory. I initially left the background white, with the flower framed by a black line squiggle.
After scanning that image in its ‘natural state’, I decided to experiment by adding a contrasting blue background inside the frame.
I then posted the two images to Facebook along with the questions: “With or without? And why?”
53 Facebook followers weighed in with their opinions. A huge majority (a whopping 94% of the voters) preferred the image ‘with’ the blue background.
They gave these reasons: contrast highlights the flower, makes color more vibrant, makes it look warmer, gives it depth and dimension, makes it more positive, feels more finished and complete, makes the flowers pop, and gives context.
The two votes for ‘without’ chose the image with the white background because of its simplicity and understatement.
One of the ‘without’ supporters mocked up a couple of images with colored mats to show how the frame choice could make the image pop in different ways. This reinforces the point made by another respondent who was squarely on the fence, saying the preference for a white or color background ‘depends on the frame’.
One artist that I studied with (can’t remember who) noted that if you are wondering whether you should or whether you shouldn’t (change a line, add a color, tweak the background), the answer is always, ‘Yes, you should.”
His point was that the change just might be successful; and if it isn’t successful, at least you’ve learned something about what NOT to do next time. Grand experiments in the pursuit of learning!
PS – Are you wondering which version I prefer? That’s just like asking a parent to choose a favorite child. I demur. I love them both.
