Painting Scraps and Composition

Back when I first started painting in pastel, everything I painted was a custom size.  I cut my paper to fit the scene.  Instead of  9x12s, 12x16s and so on, I ended up with sizes like 13x17.  This meant that every framing job was a custom job - and thus somewhat expensive.  On a beginning artist's budget, it didn't take me long to figure out that painting to standard sizes would save me money, because I could buy readymade frames and precut mats.

I did this for years.  But standard formats began to cramp my style.  Sometimes, a landscape would demand something other than a 9x12 (or a 3:4 format), such as a double-square (1:2) or even a triple-square (1:3).  As I began to explore design, I found that I was hurting myself by sticking with the standard formats.  Yet, I felt that I needed to stay standard, since any sketch might turn into a masterpiece that I'd have to frame.

But when cutting paper for standard sizes, I always seemed to end up with odd-sized scraps.  I began to use these for quick little sketches outdoors.  I began to really enjoy doing "scrap" paintings.  The practice was liberating, because I knew I wasn't going to frame them.

Somewhere along the line, I stopped thinking about the framing altogether.  I started thinking just about the painting.  If, I thought, an odd-sized piece were to end up being good enough to frame, then I'd deal with it when the time came.  I'd come full-circle regarding sizes.

These days, when I take my 9x12 sheet into the field, I'm likely to take a piece of tape and mask off a smaller area that fits my scene better.  This always leaves me a scrap for later.   Here are two sketches I did this week on a single 9x12 sheet.   Neither design would work well in a 9x12 format.

By the way, we had a day of overcast and snow squalls.  These were painted on that day.

Painting Scrap 2  (2.5x11.5)

Painting Scrap 1  (6x11.5)