Cropping subject for landscape painting

Kit Miracle, Irises, 10 x 10 oil

I was in my studio last Saturday evening and wanted to paint but I didn’t want to start something big.  So I went through some photos I had downloaded from my camera earlier this year.  I came across a scene of some irises in a backyard.  This is near where I park when I visit the library.  Lesson here:  always be prepared for a good photo op.

Street photo of irises in a backyard showing the part I cropped for the painting.

The variety of irises pictured here is beautiful.  At first I was going to do a long horizontal but reminded myself that I wanted to do something quick.  Hummm…. think smaller.  I pulled out a small prepared canvas, only 10 x 10.  Then I looked for a square composition in the canvas.  OK, so you’re really not supposed to paint to the canvas size but the other way around…but who cares?  It’s my painting and I’ll do what I want.  The composition wouldn’t have been the most apparent but I really think it turned out well.  This took about two hours to paint with a final touch up on Sunday.  What are your thoughts?

Cropped part of irises street photo