Tip: Simplifying Images

When painting from a photograph or other "real" image, the first work of an artist is to simplify what he or she sees. The world is overflowing with details and the eye is capable of seeing many more features than can realistically be painted. So, a successful artist must be able to identify the essential elements of a subject (including shapes, colors, and edges) and then ignore or approximate the remaining details.

It may help to know that the mind does a great job of filling-in the details that an artist must take out. Perhaps you have experienced what I have when examining a realistic looking painting. From a distance the painting seems to have more details than it does on closer inspection. In most cases the artist did not paint the details you think you see. Why is that? It is because the artist retained enough of the key elements from nature that your mind supplies the rest.

Look at this painting by Richard Schmid called Lilies. At first glance you get an impression of realism, but as you look more closely you see how few details the artist has incorporated. There are more details near the blooms but the image almost disappears as you move toward the edges of the canvas. The fact that the flowers still seem real suggests that the artist successfully captured the essential aspects of the "real" image.

If you learn to identify the key elements of what you see, the images you create – though simplified – will give the viewer the same sense of reality that is seen in nature, even without the details. In fact, many otherwise successful paintings appear less “real” to me when the artist tries to compete with nature by adding too many details.