I was reading a post on Facebook by Red Carpet about the Orson Welles classic Touch of Evil and came across this quote:
Welles was rehearsing the now-legendary three-minute opening tracking shot — a single take following a car through a Mexican border town. The crew grumbled that it was "impossible," that no one would notice if he just used normal cuts. Welles smiled faintly and said, "The audience may not notice, but they’ll feel it."
This concept of not consciously being aware of something, but feeling it, is an important one, I think, in all areas of life, but art in particular. Often we can't articulate why a piece of art works for us or doesn't - we just feel it.
When I'm doing landscape photography I'm constantly moving (physically or in-camera) until I get the composition that feels right. I'm making conscious choices about changing the composition, but knowing when I've got something "right" is a feeling - a sense of completeness or satisfaction. Knowing may be a strong word there - believing I have something right would probably be more accurate. Whether it's the placement of elements within the shot or the angle or the way the light falls, you keep trying different approaches.
And it's that desire to find the right combination - not being satisfied with the first try - that seems to me a crucial part of the artistic temperament.