
Another lesson reinforced at the Taos Intensive Studies Seminar (see blog post dated 5/6/14) was that too much detail ruins many paintings - look at what is most important and leave the rest out.
My original painting based on this photo I took at Mt. Rainer included detailed trees in the background, the mountain and the cloud. I was asked, "What is it that draws you to this subject?" My answer was, "The colors". "Then gray the rest down" was the advice (twice!). And so I did (though it was really hard to obliterate what I had labored on so carefully!) and darned if it didn't make for a better painting!
My original painting based on this photo I took at Mt. Rainer included detailed trees in the background, the mountain and the cloud. I was asked, "What is it that draws you to this subject?" My answer was, "The colors". "Then gray the rest down" was the advice (twice!). And so I did (though it was really hard to obliterate what I had labored on so carefully!) and darned if it didn't make for a better painting!