Tip: “Ahhh, this porridge is just right”

In the story of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", we hear of a young lady who tries several bowls of porridge, different size chairs and even beds until she finds those that are just right. So it is with painting. Too much or too little can make a big difference in art.

For example, details associated with form and shape can give the illusion of realism to a painting. Having too many or too few can also keep a painting from having the depth it needs.

It is important when trying to decide how much detail to include in a painting to not get caught-up in rendering superfluous detail or conversely too broad a handling. Over rendering can flatten the elements of a painting just as much as too much simplification. Here are some examples.

In this first example the painting has little depth because it is lacking sufficient details to give it a sense of reality.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, this painting lacks depth because the artist has included too many unnecessary details.

Now look at this painting created by Karen Margulis called "Country Meadow". It is no larger than the first painting in this posting (8" X 10"), but it has a limited number of meaningful details that suggest reality without going too far. The details included give the picture a sense of depth, and the details left out have the same effect.