DESIGN AND COMPOSITION

I am going to have a look at simplicity in this segment on design. More often than not, the simple presentations offer the greatest impact. The fact that more is not always better is a reality that is often misunderstood. We become focused on creating a story, which is often composed with the use of a lots of props, or we are fascinated by special effects and look for opportunities to incorporate them in our designs. All of this usually results in a design which becomes quite busy and we end up loosing the focus of the main subject. Again, I must state that the purpose of our presentations is to direct the attention of the viewer to our taxidermy.

One of the ways I keep myself in check is to ask myself as I'm placing an object in a piece, "Does this serve this composition or is it distracting?" Keeping the variety of materials we choose to a minimum is always a helpful tactic. When we place too many objects, such as acorns, oak leaves, mushrooms, a cast frog, deer droppings, spent shells, footprints, rocks, driftwood, and etc., all in a single setting, our eyes struggle to find...

...Continued in the Fall 2001 Issue of Breakthrough.

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