‘Undulation’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThese cropped sections were then transformed into \u2018Undulation\u2019.\u00a0 I really enjoy the swirls and rivers of colour and shape. As you make your way down each panel, these undulating forms appear to connect and continue their surreal, sinuous dance.<\/p>\n
Notice in the triptych I have changed the orientation of the cropped sections. They\u2019re now horizontal, whereas in the original source image, they appeared vertically.<\/p>\n
However, for this particular source image, I also wanted to experiment with making a horizontal triptych and found that rotating the vertical triptych 90 degrees to the left produced equally satisfying results.<\/p>\n
An additional variation of ‘Undulation’<\/figcaption><\/figure>Source image and cropping detail for the triptych ‘Rounded Edges’<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\nThis next example is four overlapping CDs. The outer parts of the image didn\u2019t interest me as much as the middle, with the strong intersecting point of the two CDs at the front. You\u2019ll see here too, that I\u2019m quite at home with cropping on an angle to get the sections I want.<\/p>\n‘Rounded Edges’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThese cropped sections formed the triptych \u2018Rounded Edges\u2019. I wanted to align the curves of the CDs so that there was a natural progression down the panels \u2013 in the top two panels the edges intersect, while in the bottom two the circular connection continues behind the CD thrusting inwards from the right.<\/p>\nSource image and cropping detail for the triptych ‘Coming Together’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHere I\u2019ve taken a picture of corrugated plastic sheeting with some interesting reflections. Between them, the three crops cover a good portion of the entire width and height of the image.<\/p>\n‘Coming Together’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThis is the resulting triptych which I call \u2018Coming Together\u2019 \u2013 for me this image has a sense of activity about it \u2013 you\u2019re just waiting for those top two panels to come together and catch up with the bottom two which are already joined. The lines and colours on the plastic and in the background echo each other, but are not an exact repetition and result in a quirky type of symmetry.<\/p>\n
As with the earlier examples, the panels are now presented horizontally \u2013 a departure from their vertical orientation in the original image.<\/p>\nSource image and cropping detail for the triptych ‘Fracture’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHere\u2019s another image where I\u2019ve tended to concentrate on one particular area and used the diagonal cropping technique. The somewhat fractured yellow line running up the middle grabbed my attention and I wanted to see what I could create using this as the primary subject matter.<\/p>\n‘Fracture’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe final triptych is, in fact, called \u2018Fracture\u2019. I\u2019ve accentuated the obvious cut and sense of disconnect in the line by breaking the continuity across the middle and right panels of the image.<\/p>\nSource image and cropping detail for the triptych ‘Orbital Congestion’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nI\u2019ve included two images of the cropped sections for this example so it\u2019s easier to see where each panel begins and ends. Choosing a square format, the green panel overlaps with both the red and the pink, creating a large concentration on the material at the centre of the original picture.<\/p>\nAn Early Version of ‘Orbital Congestion’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAnd here\u2019s what it became \u2013 \u2018Orbital Congestion\u2019. The three panels are linked through the curving \u2018S Bend\u2019 of the smaller orbiting \u2018moons\u2019 which encircle the larger planetary bodies.<\/p>\nSource image and cropping detail for the triptych ‘Terraces of Gold’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOriginally, my third (purple) panel was going to be a natural continuation along from the red section. But it started to encroach into some of the darker areas in the original shot and I just felt it didn\u2019t quite work with the two panels I already had. So I decided to crop in again over the areas I\u2019d already covered, and I got something I was much happier with.<\/p>\n‘Terraces of Gold’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe final result is \u2018Terraces of Gold\u2019. To help you de-code this, the middle panel is the purple panel, rotated 180 degrees and flipped horizontally. My inspiration for this work was Escher\u2019s mesmerising drawings of the never-ending stairs.<\/p>\n
New Ideas to Play With!<\/h3>\n I hope this has given you some new ideas about cropping and how you can approach making your triptychs in a slightly different way. Particularly with your abstract shots, have a go at overlapping your sections and seeing what unusual and unexpected results you can achieve.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019d like to explore this technique a little more, my article \u2018The Art of Creating a Triptych<\/a>\u2019 details the process of how I created the triptych \u2018 Over the Shoulder<\/a>\u2019 using similar techniques to those I\u2019ve outlined here.<\/p>\nIf you\u2019re still hungry for more, there are several other articles in the \u2018Talking Triptychs<\/a>\u2019 series which you can sink your teeth into!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u200bDeciding how to crop a single image to create a triptych can be challenging. Should you go for a vertical or horizontal cut, or even a \u2018T\u2019 cut to maximise the potential for your three part construction? Working with abstracts has opened up many possibilities for me.I\u2019ve discovered that it\u2019s perfectly OK and even desirable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2992,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Creative Cropping for your Triptychs - Abstracted Reality<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n