On the Thirds

Composing a painting should rely on more than just reproducing the actual scene.  A few days before I composed this painting, I sketched a palm tree at a local restaurant.  There are palm trees outside my room, so I used that reference to add to the composition of the painting.  The birdhouses are part of the landscape outside my balcony, so it was easy to combine the two.

Placement then became the important part of the decision to place the two elements.  I've always chosen to follow the traditional compositional idea of placing the important subjects on the thirds. 
The palm tree on the left and the birdhouse on the right are both on the third areas. 

Paint what you love, but think with your brain!