To simplify a painting means removing as many unnecessary marks as possible and to do that we need to be deliberate. To assist that, counting your brush strokes can help you become more aware of what you’re putting down and why.
Simplify Your Paintings
Many artists are aware that one of the hardest skills to learn in painting is how to keep things simple. Artist Eric Jacobsen often gets questions from artists on how to keep the painting process simple. To initiate a simpler way of painting, you can begin by establishing what kind of painter you want to be. From there, you can begin using Eric’s tips and tricks below for a simpler process.
For outdoor or landscape painters, Eric and Gabor recommend taking fewer supplies with you outside (or wherever you paint if you are not an outdoor painter). This can start by taking on a smaller palette; only having three primary colors and white. For example, if you paint with one primary color for blue and you see something in your painting going toward blue, you will only have one color of blue to choose from rather than a full palette of various blues. Having fewer options to choose from can prevent feeling overwhelmed by which blue to choose. It will also give you a clear idea if you need to purchase a new color of blue or if you can use your primary color to create what you need.
Simplification can also be as straightforward as focusing on the shape of what you are seeing rather than focusing on lines in your painting. Many artists also choose too large of a canvas, and simplifying can be using a smaller canvas to concentrate on the subject matter more than size of the painting.
One last tip from Eric Jacobsen is this: challenge yourself by using a brush size out of your comfort zone. Using a larger brush may help you start seeing things in a larger picture rather than focusing on too many details at a time like you would with a small brush.
If you are not as experienced of a painter yet, do not worry about simplifying the process until you are solid with the fundamentals of painting.
“A bonus [to these methods of simplification] is you may not have drawing skills, understand design fully, or have a great idea how to vary edges, but you will have a harmonious painting just by simplifying.” – Eric Jacobsen
To learn from Eric Jacobsen, join him in his video download series ““A BRUSH WITH NATURE: CREATING LOOSE PAINTINGS”
Limit your Brushes.
Limit yourself to 3 brushes – a flat brush, detail brush, and a dry bristle brush.
Completing the majority of your painting with the flat brush allows you to block out a relatively large space whilst also limiting and removing the temptation towards detail.
Double up the use of the flat brush by using the corner for some detail points, use your bristle brush to blend colours together and finally, one detail brush allows you to get into some smaller areas.
Check out Top Painting Supplies for tips and recommendations on brushes and paints to choose.
2. Reduce your Palette.
This is very important, you need to reduce your distractions and choice. I choose to work with the primary colours, a brown and white, choosing a warm and cold version of each. You can mix up your greens, oranges and purples using these. If all colours are available to you, you’ll spend too much of your time mixing up colours.
You could go even further and choose just one colour, adding in black and white to create a value scale painting.
Bonus!
Ever heard of Parkinson’s Law? It’s a theory that “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” So, If something must be done in a year, it’ll be done in a year. If it must be done in six months, then it will.
If time is unlimited when working on your art, you’ll have the option to faff about, moving into your detail, tentatively adding on your colours and generally giving yourself too much time to over-think. A time limit will force you to just get on with it – you’ll have no time to second guess yourself and you’ll find a way to get it completed within the time frame.
Nothing makes you work in a more focused and deliberate manner as a ticking clock.
4. Be choosey with Detail.
Simplifying a painting means you can’t add detail everywhere – knowing what to leave out is more difficult than it sounds and takes practice. Before starting into your painting, take a few minutes and decide what part of your subject requires detail and what can you keep loose.
To practice this, try painting your subject 3 times in a row. For each painting critique the work to question what you can leave out in the following painting.
5. Think of it as an experiment.
Take the pressure off from creating a finalised perfect hang-worthy painting and change your focus to an experiment that you’re going to learn from. This means that even if the work ends up in the bin at the end, or you choose to paint over and start again you’re achieving the goal of experimenting – learning. If it goes well then great, but if not, critique it;
Ask yourself which 3 things you don’t like about it and why, and which 3 things you do. Make a mental note and apply these lessons to your next experiment.
