Speaking of Art Blog

But it’s also those same details that get me lost sometimes, literally.  While I was working on all the stems and leaves across the bottom half of this painting, I kept losing my place and I couldn’t even figure out where I was in my reference photo anymore.  That’s when I needed to stop, step away, and reboot.

Here is what I asked myself when I rebooted my brain:

QUESTION: What is my main goal in doing this painting in the first place?  Is it to render every single last detail?

ANSWER:  No.  My main goal is to depict an awe-inspiring scene I encountered in the prairie near my home one day in early September when 7 monarch butterflies landed on some tall boneset and were fluttering their gorgeous patterned wings.  They were oblivious to me as I stood transfixed by the colors and patterns in this wild, organic vignette.  There were mauve colored big bluestem grasses and purple ironweed blowing slowly in the background, with goldenrod bursting out with bright yellow notes in the middle ground and foreground.  It was truly a feast for my senses.

QUESTION: So, if I eliminate some green stems and leaves along the bottom half that I am now completely lost in, will that help or hinder my main goal?

ANSWER: It will help.  I can replace many of those stems and leaves with some more blurred colors of the middle and background and thus better create a complete scene, not just a forest of leaves and stems. I will be back on track with depicting a whole story, not just a bunch of details.

So that’s what I did – I started back in along the bottom half and I eliminated a LOT of stems and leaves.  Who can even tell that they’re missing?  No one.  And as a result, I was able to allow more of the blurry background colors to show between the remaining stems and leaves.  Besides, THERE ARE STILL A LOT OF STEMS AND LEAVES DOWN THERE.

So, the moral of the story for me is that sometimes I need to step back and reevaluate, reboot, check in again with myself as to why I’m creating this piece of artwork in the first place.  It’s especially helpful to do that when I am lost in the details.  And since I love rendering details, I might not be unhappily lost, but that doesn’t make me any less lost.  It’s when I’m lost in the minutia that I need to stop, check back about where I’m headed, and then work to achieve that goal.  Otherwise, I might not get to the top of the dune at all, and what a disappointment that would be.  Details may be fun, but it’s the view at the end that is what I’m after.