to crop or not to crop

[naomiball]

Which do you like better, not cropped or cropped?

[claude j greengrass]

The upper arc almost becomes a tangent to the edge in the cropped version, so my advice is to not crop or al least find a different crop if you are going to crop your painting.

[karenlee]

I like not cropped better; it is a bigger visual adventure.
However, it makes a difference whether this is a design for a brooch, or for a painting. The former needs to be short and sweet, while the latter needs to give the eye and brain a bigger trip. What do you have in mind?

[loft artist]

1st one looks better balanced , 2nd looks more weighted towards the left