First Canvas

My two younger kids love to decorate our patio with their artwork. This time it was my 2-year-old letting the creative juices flow.

What do you think of this one? I didn't reposition anything, but theposition of the crack and the outlying chalk pieces within the framewas intensional. I tweaked the contrast a bit. How could I haveimproved this shot?

I hope "still life" is an appropriate category. I wasn't sure whereto put this.

Very interesting picture!

Very interesting idea. The lack of sense of scale adds to the image. I do not know how or what you were doing to control light, but the lack of any shadow really flattens the piece and I wonder what it would look like with just a hint of directional light.

Thanks for the comments. The lighting is natural. The patio was fully shaded by a large maple tree in our yard. At the time I took this shot (about 10am), the sun would have been directly to the right of the frame (the crack runs north-south). If you look carefully, you can see a few shadows on some of the chalk. I see what you mean about adding a bit more directional light, though, especially to add a little more depth to the chalk themselves. However, I wanted to avoid modifying anything about the scene. Everything you see is as I found it.

As for the sense of scale, I guess you don't have young kids. I'm so used to seeing sidewalk chalk at most of the homes I visit that I forget not everybody is familiar with it. Each stick is about an inch (2.5cm) in diameter.