Hi Glenn,
I'm glad that you get some satisfaction from these elaborations. I'm never upset by being questioned, only by the manner in which it is done. I never said, "because I said so" and offered reasons, but as you still persisted, it was clear that you didn't get my reasons. All of the above (in the illustrations) I've said before, but in general terms. For those who are not familiar with the specific terms and elements that I'm referring to, these illustrations should make no more sense than do my general references to these principles. But, whatever works for ya'..... I hope that we can be friends and kick this stuff around some more.
Maybe the best thing to do is to get a few books on artistic composition and absorb what they have to offer. Granted, that will be only a cursory introduction to these principles, but if you look for these elements in everyday life and in commonly found art, you can begin to see these things automatically. Further, you may begin to utilize them in your own work - eventually without even thinking about it. It will eventually just seem "right."
Probably the best kind of reference for things like this are lessons on composing landscape paintings. The conventions that are employed for looking at a real-life scene and translating that to the canvas are super for learning about what "works" artistically - for what makes sense to the viewer, even though it may bear little resemblance to what actually is in the scene that the artist used to make the painting. Wonderful lessons of landscape painting are hugely applicable to bonsai. I wish that more enthusiasts and bonsai artists would learn these lessons. This is not to say that I'm an expert because I'm certainly not. I can just recognize many of the triumphs and shortcomings in bonsai art because of these kinds of considerations. All bonsai "artists" should be conscious of them in their work.
I'll shut up now ;-)
Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
b u n j i n | d e s i g n ::
www.bunjindesign.com
zone 8, Texas