Bark Compositions

I decided to work with bark, since I found the texture extremely interesting. After studying different pictures of bark for quite some time, I made an interesting observation. Even though the bark of a tree looks whole and smooth from a distance, it is actually made of many small separate fragments. This naturally fit the dichotomy unity vs. fragmentation, which is then where I decided to take these two pieces. 

I decided to maintain the same canvas dimensions to preserve a sense of relatedness between the two pieces, as well as a similar color scheme to translate the image of tree bark. For these two pieces, I worked with texture and tone. Following the section on unity and fragmentation in the Dondis reading, I  kept the texture unified and going in the same direction in the left piece. I created a single gradient with different shades of brown, and restricted the lines within a simple rectangle. For my fragmentation piece, I did the exact opposite. I created many smaller bark pieces, each with their own gradient and textures, to make sure that each fragment was its own entity, while still contributing to the piece as a whole.