Take Three

My third take on the same pile of mid-August smoke-bush leaves. This time with the emphasis not on shape, but on color. In particular the gradient of green to purple that occurs along each branch. So now you have them all: Three take son the same handful of leaves.  Often when I am making a composition, I ask myself what is most interesting about my subject: shape? color? form? texture? stage? And then I try to make a composition that highlights that particular quality the most. Sometime is it more than one thing, but often there is usually one specific quality that caught my attention in the first place–the furry stem, the gradient of colors, the ribbed texture of the under-leaf…That is always my starting point.

smokebush leaves in mid August (Cotinus)