A Snake in the Grassby
ellamayComment by zeuszen: The wonderful naive illusion created here is rare, to say the least.
On first sight, the image appears to be one coming out of a box of crayons, if not straight out of a fairy tale. On closer examination, the apparent -flat- feel, however, yields considerable depth. When we resist the decoy of the elaborate lattice work of twigs and branches obscuring a clear view of the ground, the trunks of trees become visible alongside numerous tufts of fern fringing a winding path (?).
Since no texture is given anywhere on its course, an allegory of a creek or brook is equally established, while the apparent birds' eye perspective is quite incidentally concealed by the proximity of the wicker work.
The magic of this capture, IMO, derives from a rift between the impression of an immediately obvious naivity on hand hand and the complexities obsctructing such a view on the other. The extreme point of view, it seems, makes full use of its vantage and has, I feel, laid out a picture which appears to have composed itself. The undulating -snake-, I discovered, leads the viewer precisely in, through and out of the image.
Straining to add something negative, I'd wish for a little less of some very light greys and blown highlights in and along the twigs and branches. How to accomplish this, without effecting that which I cannot fault, is something this image has made me forget. ;-)
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