Having decided that the composition needed another element, I decided that it was going to be another tree, I cut two different-sized trees out of paper. Using cut-outs like this enables you to play around with the composition quickly, to try out various positions for the elements, without constantly painting it in and taking it out (and stressing that you’re quick enough to do this before the paint dries, if you use acrylics like I do) -- see Composition Class: Using Cut-outs.
The photo above shows the smaller of the two cut-out trees, which is far too small. It’s lost in the painting, looking more like an accidental smear of white paint than an element of the composition. The second of the cut-outs was the size of the tree you can see in the finished painting. It’s large enough to be noticed, doesn’t try to dominate or compete with the main tree, rather gives it a sense of scale or proportion to the painting, even though it’s quite abstracted.
