Simplifying Complex Scenes
from Skip Whitcomb
Let’s explore different approaches of simplifying a complex subject. It’s good to look and study different artists and the way they have chosen to simplify what could be an incredibly complex subject.
The painting below is from Jill Carver. This obviously could be a highly complex subject, but she has chosen to simplify it by seeing big. We can do this by squinting at the subject. It also helps if you work out beforehand questions like: What are the big shapes? What are the most important shapes, and how much attention am I going to give to the details in there?
Jill has determined that the fall trees along the shore of this creek or river are very important as a lead into the wonderful big shapes in the background. In order to do that, this takes a rather brave move on the artist’s part. This brave move could simply be choosing a large brush and not allowing yourself to slide over into your little brushes, your number twos or number ones. And, by keeping a full pallete. In other words, keep a lot of paint on your palette so you're not constantly mixing and re-mixing.
“It’s learning to see simply, and allowing it to happen on the canvas.”
Jill will invariably use a restricted palette, a limited palette, and it changes from one piece to another. And this is, again, another great example. Using a larger brush sounds simple, but mentally, it's hard. It's hard to force yourself to do that. But it's a tremendous exercise. Whether you're working in the studio, working outdoors, still life or figure, it doesn't matter. Pick up those bigger tools and see what a difference it can make because it forces you to simplify.
“Pick up those bigger tools and see what a difference it can make because it forces you to simplify.”
The next piece is by Greg Packard. Again, large brushes and not allowing himself to fall into the trap of using smaller tools. And in this case, we can also see a limited pallet, but overall, Greg is simplifying. Look at the (stand?) of winter trees, of cottonwoods. These are deciduous trees, so they lost all their leaves and they're present. These could be very complex shapes if we allowed ourselves to fuss around and paint every little leaf or limb. Look at the sheep down below, you really don't notice them at first. They're just a texture. And look how beautifully they read “large brush.”
Greg paints a lot of these things on-scene in the wintertime. It’s a joy to see and to experience the imagery that we are capable of achieving with big brushes, a lot of paint, and simplifying, not letting. We must not get bogged down in details.
There is no secret to it. It's learning to see simply, and allowing it to happen on the canvas. It's having enough bravery to trust yourself with those larger implements. You're not gonna hurt yourself by trying.
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