“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so the necessary may speak.” ~ Hans Hoffman
In this art snippet for plein air painters, Georgia Mansur shares her thoughts on how to simplify your landscape painting for success. To go more in-depth, check out her new art video workshop, “Acrylic Seascapes Simplified” (click here for a preview).
On Simplifying Shapes and Massing
By Georgia Mansur
The very first thing we must do is simplify what we are seeing into a mass of shapes. Painting from life will teach you how to see and paint light on forms and will make you learn to bring order to what is a seemingly overwhelming amount of detail and information in nature. You must learn to see the world through a painter’s eyes, not as a camera sees.
“A picture must be in ordering of the materials into masses. We must have design in a picture even at the expense of truth.” ~ John F. Carlson
Good painters have the ability to extract the essential elements of the subject and organize and compose them into the strongest and clearest expression. In the landscape we are overwhelmed by the amount of stimulation and detail. By editing and designing masses, the artist is able to convey meaning and eliminate the distracting ‘noise’ that focuses the viewer on the artist’s impression of the scene. It is a matter of deciding what you wish to select as important and having everything else support that single idea using an economy of strokes. In this case, ‘less is more’ truly applies.
As my friend and mentor Bob Wade says, “No pattern, no painting!” One of the fundamental truths the artist must learn is that larger, simpler shapes and masses convey the essence of a subject better than its details. Simplification and massing bring visual order out of chaos and create clarity from ambiguity.
Join shapes together to make larger unified areas to make work stronger and have that ‘POW!’ impact. It is not a matter of just leaving things out, as a beginner would do. It is selecting the right elements to capture the essence and transmit your message clearly. Details can add interest or draw the eye to a particular place, but they must remain subordinate to the overall value relationships and masses. Make every stroke have meaning. It is similar to the difficulty to write using fewer words to make your point than it is to waffle on. If you can boil it down to the essential your message will have far more impact.
“Simplify, simplify, simplify.” ~ Henry David Thoreau
