Yesterday I posted about a new square format version of a floral photo I really like – actually, liked enough I wanted to see if I could do more with it. It’s the top left image in the group shot above (a snapshot of my Squares Collection at Fine Art America).

Thinking about the blue-white floral, I wrote, “The challenge of creating a satisfying cropped rendition – in this case within a squared format – is finding both the size of the crop and the edges for the new version.”

I was thinking of my struggle choosing which parts of the image, like the full petals of one flower, vs a cropped cut of another, in tandem with each other, either diminished or produced a creative visual tension that was surprising on one hand, yet quite soothing on the other.

In a painting I can consciously choose how to compose those elements, or at least try to 😊

In my photos, working with them as art, unless I’m doing creative cutting and pasting and layering, it’s about choosing within what’s there. A different kind of challenge creatively. Enjoyable in a whole different way.

Art, like aging gracefully, can expose those differences within moments, within the arts, leaving us to decide whether to enjoy, or move on….

Then reviewing my post today I wondered how those thoughts compared to what other folk might be thinking about square images. I figured I would be a bit surprised, and I was, especially as to how much good thought is out there. I’m not much active on Instagram at this point, home of the square image I’ve heard, being much more active for a long time on Twitter.

Searching Google, this turned out a nice treat!

What About These Square Formats?

Page one of my Google search (and I know this is a dynamic search and may/will change each time someone searches square format images) brings up topics like

• reasons to really like a square format
• the intriguing enduring-ness of the square format
• what squares teach you about composition
• how/why the rule of thirds doesn’t apply as much

With additional links to posts of

• how squares have enhanced an artist’s work
• the effect of mobile viewing on photography
• opportunities in stock photography

And way much more…

…like, as I’ll show more of in my Affiliate section a little further below, samples of products to paint on 😊

About Me & My Art

I’ve been taking pictures since high school when a friend sold me a used 35mm for $20 (he later told me he’d thought he’d taken advantage of our friendship getting rid of the old camera 😊) — and painting, since first grade, when the teacher, God bless her heart, on her own had us paint with watercolors to music 💕

I’m in the process of auctioning a selection of art work on eBay, and am finally also venturing into licensing and limited editions for both my photography and art.

I have accumulated more photos than I’d probably ever totally be able to work with, and more ideas for paintings than there’s paint for, lol! That and my close relationships are my truest savings as I near 69 then begin my 70’s!

Creating art definitely helps me feel I’m making headway aging gracefully!

My images are registered with the U.S. Library of Congress via numerous collections, and will passed onto our grandchildren, where they will have full derivative and other rights 😊

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See more of my bio-pic selfie series at Fine Art America 😊

Licensing & Limited Editions

For Licensing & Limited Edition inquires, please contact me at –
limitededitonsbyadan@gmail.com

Other Options & Ideas
My Amazon affiliate marketing searches & highlights for this post   

I’ve mostly tried 8×8’s but have recently been eyeing moving to 12×12’s next. This seems to be a long time pattern for me, where I start with smaller size canvases then gradually move up the size-line as I feel more comfortable with what I’m doing 😊

It’s as if I have to first gingerly search out how to fill a certain space before I’ll begin to feel constrained enough to want to move on to a bigger size!

So enjoy looking! It’s worth visualizing what you might like while capturing the moments in your world….

– try this Amazon search, all sizes & depths from tiny to big! 😊
Square Canvas – https://amzn.to/2SCqvfM

And these two square painting surfaces, one wood & the other black panels, can produce some really interesting effects.

Both wood and black surfaces can be used to allow the texture or color contrast to show through or between strokes of paint. I’ve used black surfaces a lot recently, and even gessoed a white canvas black when I wanted that size to paint on. And of course the wood surface can provide a slickness hard to achieve on textured canvas.

Wood panels – https://amzn.to/2JUA5rX
Black canvas panels – https://amzn.to/2Ma5ZCd

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Let Me Know 😊

So did you like a kinda-summary article about one style/format of my visual work?

And I’ll admit, at my age, aging gracefully I hope lol, I’ve pretty well given up trying to “specialize” or choose one style of image creativity to concentrate on. It’d be like trying to choose one of your children to just pay attention to. Losing battle, not worth it, and wouldn’t enjoy it 💕

Would you like to see more posts like this? Like a concentration about my Floral images, or Black & White Photography, or sunrises & sunsets, just to mention a few? Tell me in the comments! 🙏

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I hope you’ve enjoyed my art and photography, and will return to explore more of my work —
Here are some more search suggestions of topics on our site 😊

PhotoPoems — Poetry — Painting — Photography – Floral

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Thanks so much for coming by!

Adan

Twitter / Instagram / FB @FelipeAdanLerma
Adan’s Amazon Author Page – https://amzn.to/2LIGmJf
Fine Art America (FAA) – https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/felipeadan-lerma.html