Tip: Shrink Wrapping Nature

"One of the difficult things a novice artist will encounter is how to convert the contour of the diverse objects that appear in nature...to a simple outline. He is usually concerned with the precision of all the protrusions of the trees, rocks, etc."

"A simple way to visualize the different areas from your reference is to pretend in your mind that everything receives a plastic cover very similar to when a gift is shrink wrapped in it, and this cover molds itself to the overall contour of your background forest, group of trees, etc. The end result of the simplification of form and its general appearance is what can be transferred to your painting surface. This is that good tool for visualizing in order to create the abstract shapes that have attractive melodic lines."

"The objective of this is to get the mind off the submission to [nature]... Too many artists are too concerned about making things look real rather than make things represent reality."

Johannes Vloothuis