Think Outside the Box ...Painting Format Matters.

'Reach for the Sun'      10x20       pastel          ©Karen Margulis
painting available $195

Do you think outside of the box? When it comes to choosing your painting size what governs your  choice?  Often for me it was the Pile. That is the pile of papers I keep in the corner of my studio. I would often just choose the piece of paper that was on the top of the pile. Size, type and color didn't matter. Or should it?

Sometimes I did give it more thought. A bit more. If it was a landscape then I would automatically orient my paper to landscape mode....horizontal. That was limiting.

I started to think outside the box. Landscape don't have to be painted in a horizontal rectangle. What about vertical or portrait orientation? Or how about squares? Even more interesting how about panoramic?  What about size? Standard paper sizes are safe. They are easier to frame. But do they fit the subject? Would a non-standard size be a better choice?

detail view

This is food for thought. I tend to stick with standard sizes but when I think outside of this standard box my possibilities are limitless. For today's painting I decided that a long and narrow format would be the best fit for my concept. The flowers are tall and leggy and are reaching high above the meadow. They called out for more room to grow and a 10x20 piece of paper was the answer.