Anyway, I offered to do three sketches to give the powers that be an idea of how I envisioned the poster to look taking in all the many messages they wanted to get across. The first idea takes a conservation into an over the sofa expression of just what the polo event is really about. I used a sketch from another painting that I did where player and his noble steed were having a meeting about game strategy.
In this poster, the layout gives me a chance to show the longleaf pine savannahs of the Florida parishes here in Louisiana as a background instead of the green, green well manicured polo field. The horizontal also gives me room to add flora and fauna that are on the cusp of endangered status or on the watch list. I really like this one except the featured pine looks sick because of the crop and I don't want to bleed the top of the tree off the top of the page. Otherwise, this one is my choice.
The second idea is what I called, "Bubbles" and it is kinda feminine and fun in its approach using ovals and circles as vehicle to take your eye around for visual stroll... with champagne bubbles as your guide! It's the polo games as a social event in a fancy, frilly fund raiser way. I fear the babe is gonna be problematic though!
And lastly, is a more pragmatic and direct approach using a polo player actually planting a pine tree in the savannah. The like this idea, but haven't really solved how to get all the other messages ( Is it really necessary anyway? ) into this piece without using insets. Scale and perspective could be a problem, but I think the board would probably pick this one because it is more like a real narrative picture.
Anyway, just for fun, tell me what you think and which one you'd prefer. I'll probably get the final decision late Monday.
Copyright 2012/ Ben Bensen III
I would go with the first one. The tree looks like a post Katrina tree - it survived and it's doing its best to display some dignity! I remember all the fallen trees in your neighborhood so I think it fits. The second one won't fly. I think the bubbles are cute and clever but they probably don't want to appear to be promoting alcoholic beverages which I'm sure are flowing quite freely at the event. Nevertheless you have all that politically correct, must be "family oriented" - blah, blah thinking that goes on with any public display of an event. The third one doesn't convey a message. And what polo player in full gear would be on his knees in the LA heat digging in the ground? Surely, there's a gardener to do that task, eh? Just joking! The third one just isn't as visually interesting as the other two that have a collage effect. That's my 2 cents.
ReplyDeleteMD, your "two cents" are worth more than that. Thanks for taking the time to investigate the details. I agree with your comments especially about the third layout which is simpler, but the layout is boring and kind of claustrophobic. The good thing is that I have a vision of how that last layout looks and not with the other ones, but that is all the more a reason to do the other two... you know?
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