four square

Red Betta; casein on board; 6" x 6"

This is the last of four little caseins on watercolor board.  It's been an interesting adventure with this square format.  The Savvy Painter (Antrese Woods) recently interviewed an artist who preferred to work in a near-square format.  She felt that a 20" x 21" canvas, for instance, created a bit of tension in her works.  Kenn Backhaus, during his recent talk at the Cincinnati Art Center, also mentioned mixing up dimensions to create more excitement and to avoid stagnation.  He suggested a 2:1 ratio both vertically and horizontally. 

A decade or so ago, I was married to the idea of always painting with the dimensions of the Golden Section - 1:1.618.  It was freeing to have that constraint and, at the time, I found the possibilities endless.  When I finally explored the more conventional ratios of 4:5 or 3:4 it surprised me that I could still find exciting compositions - with the added bonus of ready-made support panels, canvases, frames, backing boards, shipping boxes, etc..

I'm rambling here - not really getting to any point - just musing on formats - and hinting that I may need to try the near-square for myself.