I think a better title for this first installment in the Aquascaping Studies Series would have been, "A non-artist's attempt to learn aquascaping, first up is learning to put feeling and emotion into the aquarium". While factually accurate, you might agree with me that it has less panache than the title I chose to use.
While I was not gifted with much artistic talent, I do have a keen eye for details and am fascinated with deconstructing aquascapes to understand techniques used and the artist's intentions. As such, I fall much more into the category most critics of art occupy than in the artist category. Therefore, I ask that you take my attempt at learning here as just that - an attempt to learn through observation and deep thought. Each aquascape I refer to in this series has my utmost respect and admiration.
We enter the planted aquarium hobby for many reasons. Some want to create a more natural biotope for their fauna so their intention is to be factually accurate to benefit their inhabitants. Others were wowed by the natural beauty captured by world-class aquascapes and want something similar in their homes. And yet others love the beauty of aquatic plants and love growing them, aquatic gardeners, and their focus is on growing beautiful, healthy plants.
Whatever your reason for setting up a planted aquarium in your home is, I believe it needs presence. It needs to capture the viewers attention and hold it. It should evoke a feeling or emotion in the viewer (hopefully, a positive one, unless you're intentionally going for something else). It needs to say something to the viewer and the artist who creates it has a lot to do with what it says. This is what I mean by presence.
Let's start with an example to see if I can show you when an aquascape has powerful presence and when another one has less. Please take a look at the two aquascapes below. Both are from last year's IAPLC with the first being Josh Sim's winning work (A River ... Somewhere) and the other is ranked 285 in the world and considered a Fine Work.
Here is A River ... Somewhere. Please focus on how you feel and any emotions this aquascape may bring up initially. Then as you look closer at its different parts.
Now, compare it to the 285th placed work. Still well done with healthy plants. Does it evoke a similarly strong emotional response or feeling in you?
Josh's work is very intentionally telling a story. Even the name is conveying the emotion he is looking for. Compare that to Keisuke's work that is technically proficient but isn't conveying an obvious presence. Its story is less compelling. Still good, but not as strong, bold. Don't you think?
When I look at planted aquariums, I search for PRESENCE – an immediate visual appeal, an impact, along with a sense of daring and originality from the creator. It isn't intended to be like wallpaper - nice but intended to blend into the background.
Learning to give your planted aquarium presence is one of the most important things you can do for yourself. It will take your work to the next level and, hopefully, increase your enjoyment of the hobby.
In the next installment, I will further explore examples and, hopefully together, we can flesh out techniques to get that presence kicking in your aquascape. However, I do want to end this with a clarification.
I am using the word "aquascaping" to refer to improving the look of any planted aquarium. I am not using it to refer to the competitive form of aquascaping with the view of entering contests, etc. I think the term often gets confused and may have a negative connotation with some that I'm hoping we can get past.
Until my next post, do you have any thoughts on the importance of presence in aquascaping? I'd love to hear them.
While I was not gifted with much artistic talent, I do have a keen eye for details and am fascinated with deconstructing aquascapes to understand techniques used and the artist's intentions. As such, I fall much more into the category most critics of art occupy than in the artist category. Therefore, I ask that you take my attempt at learning here as just that - an attempt to learn through observation and deep thought. Each aquascape I refer to in this series has my utmost respect and admiration.
Why start with "Creating Presence" and what does that mean?
We enter the planted aquarium hobby for many reasons. Some want to create a more natural biotope for their fauna so their intention is to be factually accurate to benefit their inhabitants. Others were wowed by the natural beauty captured by world-class aquascapes and want something similar in their homes. And yet others love the beauty of aquatic plants and love growing them, aquatic gardeners, and their focus is on growing beautiful, healthy plants.
Whatever your reason for setting up a planted aquarium in your home is, I believe it needs presence. It needs to capture the viewers attention and hold it. It should evoke a feeling or emotion in the viewer (hopefully, a positive one, unless you're intentionally going for something else). It needs to say something to the viewer and the artist who creates it has a lot to do with what it says. This is what I mean by presence.
Let's start with an example to see if I can show you when an aquascape has powerful presence and when another one has less. Please take a look at the two aquascapes below. Both are from last year's IAPLC with the first being Josh Sim's winning work (A River ... Somewhere) and the other is ranked 285 in the world and considered a Fine Work.
Here is A River ... Somewhere. Please focus on how you feel and any emotions this aquascape may bring up initially. Then as you look closer at its different parts.
Now, compare it to the 285th placed work. Still well done with healthy plants. Does it evoke a similarly strong emotional response or feeling in you?
Josh's work is very intentionally telling a story. Even the name is conveying the emotion he is looking for. Compare that to Keisuke's work that is technically proficient but isn't conveying an obvious presence. Its story is less compelling. Still good, but not as strong, bold. Don't you think?
When I look at planted aquariums, I search for PRESENCE – an immediate visual appeal, an impact, along with a sense of daring and originality from the creator. It isn't intended to be like wallpaper - nice but intended to blend into the background.
Learning to give your planted aquarium presence is one of the most important things you can do for yourself. It will take your work to the next level and, hopefully, increase your enjoyment of the hobby.
In the next installment, I will further explore examples and, hopefully together, we can flesh out techniques to get that presence kicking in your aquascape. However, I do want to end this with a clarification.
I am using the word "aquascaping" to refer to improving the look of any planted aquarium. I am not using it to refer to the competitive form of aquascaping with the view of entering contests, etc. I think the term often gets confused and may have a negative connotation with some that I'm hoping we can get past.
Until my next post, do you have any thoughts on the importance of presence in aquascaping? I'd love to hear them.
