PLANTS
AND
GARDENS
Cropping and Composition
MANY STUDENTS WILL START a drawing in the middle of the
paper. Focused on the shape and detail of their subject, they
remain happily unaware that there is, or should be, any
relationship between what they are drawing and the surface
they are drawing it on. The paper is only paper, and the
troublesome subject floats somewhere in the expanse of it.
However, a single fig drawn in the middle of a large,
empty square of paper gives quite a different impression
from the same fig drawn on such an intimately small square
that its skin nearly touches the boundary. The meaning of the
same drawing changes simply by its relationship to the space
it occupies. The size of any subject, its placement on the
page, the size of the page, and its overall proportion are all
discrete and essential aspects of successful picture-making.
Before you begin to draw, think carefully about where to
place your subject. Are you are happy with your paper? If not,
change it; add more, take some away, or turn it around. Do
not just accept what you are given, adapt it to what you need.
CHOOSING A VIEW
A Single Fig
"The size, shape, and orientation of the paper are so integral to the
composition that they determine the impact and meaning of the drawing."