How to Simplify a Complex Scene

I recently spent a night at the beautiful Secrets on the Lake in Queensland, Commonwealth of australia with my partner, Chontele. We stayed in a secluded lodge, nestled among the dense rainforest.

I used this trip every bit a take a chance to exam out some of my new plein air painting equipment. But, despite the stunning nature which surrounded united states of america at Secrets, it was surprisingly difficult to discover a subject field to paint.

I was confronted with an unthinkable number of colors, shapes, lines, shadows, and highlights which made upward the dense nature. Since I was painting on location, it was not an selection to do a one thousand and detailed forest painting, much like Ivan Shishan'southward painting beneath:

Ivan Shishkin, Deadwood, 1893

I needed to try and simplify all the "noise" down to something more concise which I could paint within a relatively brusk period of time. To add together to the challenge, I needed to deal with changes in calorie-free and the environment.

After exploring effectually the lodge and surrounding areas, I narrowed down on this location from an expanse on the balustrade:

Some of the aspects which interested me were:

• The lake and mountain which you tin can run across through the copse in the distance.
• The repetition of the alpine tree trunks.
• The dappled light hitting the trees.

Plus the added convenience of being able to paint from the balustrade.

However, as a whole, this scene was yet far as well complex to paint on location. The most likely issue would accept been a mess of color and one frustrated artist.

The solution was to crop out much of the detail and narrow down on an area which captures the essence of the scene clearly and concisely. Beneath is what I came up with:

Notice how, even though I have cropped out nigh of the "racket", this cropped version still captures the key essence of the scene:

• You can still see the lake and the mount through the copse. If anything, they appear more prominent in this cropped version.
• Yous nevertheless go a sense of repetition from the tall tree trunks.
• You lot can however see dappled light hitting the copse. Once again, it seems to play an even stronger office in this cropped version.

To me, this is what simplifying a circuitous scene is all about—narrowing downward on the essence of the scene and cutting out the residual. Much similar a great writer uses fewer words to say more than, whilst amateur writers try to overwhelm yous with words.

Below are some more photos from the trip, starting with a photo of the blank canvass earlier I started painting. Information technology was only after sunrise and fog filled the air; I could not fifty-fifty see through the copse to the lake or mountain the distance. But I assumed that by the time I had done a brief sketch, the fog would take cleared.

By the fourth dimension the fog cleared, I was prepare to commencement blocking-in some of the basic color shapes.

I had to work quickly, as the light was constantly changing. Towards the end of the painting, I needed to kickoff working from retentivity considering the shadows and colors had changed so significantly.

The end result is a rough study and a cute manner to think the trip. That is one of the cardinal benefits of painting; you become a run a risk to document your life in a truly personal and creative fashion. Photos a great, but painting gives you a chance to capture how you lot see the scene.

Tip: The thought with these quick-studies washed on location is not to capture a finely rendered version of what you lot are seeing. You only have fourth dimension to capture the basics. But you can and then utilise these studies forth with photos to create a more detailed version back in the studio.

Dan Scott, Secrets on the Lake, Written report, 2019

Limerick Exercise

Side by side time yous are surrounded by dense nature or some other complex scene, run across if you can simplify the "noise" down to a clear and curtailed subject to paint. This is a great do in composition which volition aid you see like an creative person.

General Tips for Simplifying the Complex

• Try to see in terms of the visual elements, existence color, shape, line, etc. This will aid you see the beauty in an otherwise bland area.
• Look for dramatic contrasts, such as calorie-free confronting dark, saturated against dull or rigid against organic.
• Endeavor to narrow down on the essence of the scene by cutting out nearly of the "noise".
• Use your easily to frame potential compositions.
• Be open-minded. On first glance, a scene might not look much, merely further investigation might reveal, for instance, a beautiful design created by the shadows.

Thank you for Reading!

Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I appreciate information technology! Feel complimentary to share with friends. If you want more painting tips, check out my Painting Academy class.

Happy painting!

Dan Scott

Depict Paint Academy

lyleshawat.blogspot.com

Source: https://drawpaintacademy.com/simplify-the-complex/

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