Imagine standing on a mountain top. As you turn your head you can see a wonderful view. It is so heartstopping and beautiful. You feel motivated to pick up your brush and paint what you see... but there is too much. Where would you begin?

This makes art difficult to do... there is too much choice. If you attempt to draw and paint everything you see you are doomed to fail. You can’t possibly reproduce it all.

As you stand facing your canvas, ready to paint, you should concentrate on the main subject. It could be anything that captures your imagination... it may be a single block of stone or a waterfall... it may even be a mountain goat or a bird of prey.

Focus on what you think is going to be significant. Eliminate anything that will divert attention. Add everything your subject deserves to make it look real. Leave everything else flat and plain to force your subject forward. All else is irrelevant, other than to frame and give meaning to your subject matter...

* When the rough shape of far away mountains can be illustrated by a single block of even-toned gray-blue... why add more?

* A strip of sky color might be used as a winding river in the valley bottom... isn’t that plenty?

* When a forest of trees could be painted with a single brushstroke of dark-green... why work harder?

In 3 stages you can create an impression of distance...

* The main subject and foreground details need plenty of detail... Using vibrant colors and sharp contrast levels.

* Middle distance needs less detail... the color tones and contrast levels should be muted and less sharp.

* Distant mountains and scenery have reduced texture. This could be produced with the sketchiest of outlines... requiring only flat color tones of grays or sky colors.

Generally, oils and acrylic paints are great for close-up detail and texture. Watercolors are better to learn the level of tone and detail for distance painting.

It doesn’t matter what you choose to draw or paint with. The key to good artwork is to focus on the main subject… everything else should be removed unless it adds and supports.