In relation to magazine/poster design, that also is applied here, an art teacher said to us, "In your mind's eye, 'shake the page'". That way, what is less relevant falls away and is a 'cure' for detail mania and the curse of perfectionism and to some degree the final image is less distracting for the viewer. And, as two other art teachers said, 'See each painting as an exercise'; that way your approach is less precious. Also, 'A painting is never finished'. We have to know when to walk away. There comes a point where we must not add any more, otherwise, like a good party, everything starts to go down hill pretty fast. The viewers mind can fill in what is 'unfinished'.

As someone who regularly gets bogged down in all the details of a scene, I found your tutorial very helpful. Thank you

It's interesting how the stroke directions and overlaps are kinda giving the illusion of detail in the drawings. You have the best lessons ever, it's encouraging me to leave digital for a while to work with actual paint.

I don't often draw because I get overwhelmed and easily get lost in the details, losing sight of the whole. I think I'll give it a try using this method! Thank you for your video

6:03 As in theatre you do not need to see what's going on in the wings. If you do see what's happening in the wings the power of what's happening is diminished. Imagine, if you will, seeing a cabbage being chopped in two - whilst on stage there is an exections in progress - you would probably laugh. Whereas, if you are unaware of the true source of the sound, relating to what's happening, you recoil empathizing with what's happening - your imagination doing most of the work. Or, as in writing, 'show don't tell'. Likewise here, albeit in milder form, we see the light crossing the floor; we do not need to see its obvious source and the the main focus is on the point of interest - the two women interacting. I think Ian Roberts' teaching methods are second to none and truly inspirational.

You are THE best at explaining and demonstrating concepts of composition. I've been successfully teaching art for 40 years and still find your direct approach inspiring and useful! THANK YOU!

If you love these tutorials, you will simply adore taking his classes. My way of thinking and approach to painting has totally changed for the better. Few, and I mean few, artists teach the fundamentals. With this painter (part-time teacher) I am filling in huge knowledge gaps. Next time he offers an online class, don't miss it. I'm not a paid spokesperson nor affiliated with Ian Roberts, but happy to recommend his classes and approach to painting.✌🖌

This is a whole LIFE LESSON, not just Art.

It's interesting how simplifying details tends to make the picture look more cinematic.

Using a photo reference, I've actually gone in to edit it to crop it and then to edit it to be very pixellated and blurry. I know that's not as good as training your eyes to see things that way but it at least helps me start off on the right foot. I got into art by wanting to be a cartoonist as a kid, and it's really incredible how much the skills in one art area can help you learn faster in another. Cartooning would say: Pay attention to what draws the eye and lay everything out accordingly; consider silhouettes; imposing limits (eg limited palette, only putting detail in certain parts to avoid clutter) can make the piece stronger; etc. It's also where beginners tend to draw from imagination more than real life, so the difficulty is learning that you can and SHOULD pay attention to details and learn to draw from life. So for 6:29, I would probably be thinking most in terms of the body language of the waitresses and how to exaggerate them to amplify the mood I wanted to achieve - what style to choose and how extreme to lean into it. I would start by blocking out the major set pieces of the windows, tables, and the chair, then spend a lot of time on the women. For example, lifting up the arm of the one on the right so that you can more easily see that she's carrying a tray, which would be contrasted to the window in the back. Only after I figured out all that would I go in and do the color for the background and only work on as many details as would look good. I would probably keep the brick. I think what I would be emphasizing in that picture is the "rustic" vibe given by the pew-style seat, the old wooden chairs, the texture of the brick, and it's enhanced with the warmth already present in the photo. Keeping the wood on the ground may be a good contrast for where the light hits it, where you can't see individual planks. But when I say I keep those, I mean that I would add just enough to hint at those textures, not that I would draw out each individual plank of wood or brick. Some very sturdy set pieces to contrast against the light, breezy feeling of the conversation between the women, the thin brights of their clothes, the transparency of the glass (I would keep one or two on the table, might place them elsewhere though), and the way the light curves around the wood, the left woman's smile, and the right woman's hair. I don't paint often - most of what I do lately is with gouache, since I don't have access to oil right now - but I really value (lol) these tips. Subscribing now!

I’ve missed my weekly Ian fix. Lovely to get this post and reminder of what I should be aiming for.

I love the way he goes over: "So we have this and that and some of those." And slowly lists off all the unimportant objects. The contrast between that and his expert simplification makes it feel almost palpable. It illustrates the getting bogged down feeling in a charming way.

Are we talking Life or Painting?

I LOVE your 2 waitresses painting! You're just a treasure. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Extremely essential video lesson. We are grateful!!! I recommend stopping the video at each photo. Then thinking: how would I do this? Then moving on to the next piece of the video, where you see how the drawing deals with it. And again: look at each detail of a photo. How would you do it? Then move to the drawing. It's a bit though, perhaps? - But I begin to understand: we'll have to do a bit of serious detail work... - before we all get to be happy geniuses!

Many painters are sometimes 'thing' oriented. In other words, they are attracted to stuff, like picturesque sunrises/sunsets, streams, waterfalls, horses, etc., cliche type subjects. The thought is that it will make an attractive painting. It may be attention-getting, but structurally it may not work without some serious adjustments. In my own experience early on, I subconsciously felt obligated to include everything I saw in a scene. I think that's true for a lot of painters. I appreciate how you used a drawing/diagram of how a good painting is actually constructed from the ground up. No amount of decoration or festoonery will save a badly constructed painting.

Ok so this is weird…3 minutes in I had to pause the video. I was so impressed with the brilliant breakdown of the mechanics of drawing AND at the same time I was taking my first couple of sips of a fresh cup of coffee when this feeling of euphoria washed over me. I have these episodes now and then but I never just stop and enjoy the moment. I say I will but I don’t. I did this time. And now I’m documenting it. This tutorial is just what I needed. I’m an artist and I have done my fair share of drawings but this has changed my outlook and attitude. Somehow, and, by what seems to be magic, a picture emerges from my canvas and it’s not at all too shabby. I always wonder if the canvas is haunted! Maybe I have an innate ability to do what you have just so wonderfully described? I don’t know, but my next project may just be by me and not by the canvas ghosts or fairies. Thank you 🙏

CREATIVE AUTHENTICITY - Great book! I just got through reading it, and it is a treasure. I will keep re-reading it and feeding on it through my artistic days. Thank you Ian. Your video is right on. It can be said that the structure and values alone can make a painting, much like your sketches. Details not needed. That’s huge. That’s the gateway to getting there without getting lost in all the other stuff.

You have the best lessons about simplification in art. Without simplification paintings are messy. Thank you! I love Eduard Vuillard for his great simplification.

I see the importance of drawing ,drawing,simplify. Thank you , I struggle w this all the time.

I cannot emphasize enough the value of your content and how much it has helped me fine tune my way of seeing. I live in Toronto, and drive to the country a great deal having boarded a horse north of the city. I recently bought a full French Easel because I want to experience working outside of my studio. You have in other videos provided a wealth of tips on how to start the plein air process, and I thank you for that. I am starting a three week holiday, it is mid July and I am so looking forward to doing some oil sketches. In closing I want to add just how much I love your work. Thanks again.

What you’ve done with your analysis-in-layers is a pretty exact analogy to what Heinrich Schenker did by inventing the graphic analysis of music. Very cool.

As a fatigued artist straddling the fence between traditional drawing/painting and the digital and 3D era, this video is an authentic oasis. A return to basic principles in the midst of a very hectic art industry. Thank you.

Love your sketches. Anyone watching this should look at Edward Hopper's sketches. He is great at this method of simplification.

I just picked my brushes and paint up after over a year away. The very first little study, the large hill and houses behind us, was so busy that I did exactly this but didn’t draw it out first, I was overcome with all the details that I had to pare them down. Those details I would have fussed over previously. One house, main trees and shapes cropped with to exclude extra details which turned into a basic under painting similar in scope to a pre paint drawing. This video basically supports my process that I stumbled into just due to what I thought may have been a little laziness. It’s not lazy, just efficient and effective planning.

I love paintings that use the simple shapes and structures of objects or landscapes, something about the rectangle strokes and roughness without too much detail that's just enough to understand what it is

I bought your book, Creative Authenticity, and gave it to myself for Christmas. I sat in front of the fire in my leather wingback and read it cover to cover in one session. Since then I've been using it as a meditation book, reading random paragraphs and marking up sections that speak to me. I cannot thank you enough for writing this book. Your section on Van Gogh was particularly meaningful as it gave me permission to validate my own thoughts about certain revered artists regardless of common opinion. I highly recommend this book and I will be ordering your other book soon.

So good to see you. Now I'll go out to take some pictures and then I'll try to compose the masses.

This is incredible, I always find myself getting trapped by details and then I overwhelm myself.

I’ve had a difficult week so the few minutes of calm watching your video has been an oasis of peace. Thank you Ian , I deeply appreciate your efforts

Good to see you, Ian. Good refresher from your class. Thank you for posting. Take care. g

This is the first time in my entire life that i subscribe to someone 2 minutes into my first video from them. Usually i have to watch a few to be sure they are good, but not this time. Your instructions are direct to the point, well-thought out, simple but still informative. And you are actually teaching HOW to crop and simplify rather than repeating what every teacher says! I appreciate that the intro is short, the audio is clear, and there is no music to clutter my ears. i will definitely keep an eye out for your book and watch the rest of the videos. Thank you!

This is the type of video ive been waiting to find. Thank you so much.

I stopped washing my dishes to watch this ...yes I'm an artist Thankyou

I have always problems to focus myself on the simple forms. This video is very helpful. Thank you. 🙂

It's so nice to see a master teach his students what I tried to teach my fellow students in college; what I had learned from studying mother nature and the old masters. I tried to save them from the S$%#@% abstract contemporary teachers that told them not to paint in a traditional realist style because they said... "it's too obvious", or, "where's the story?"... God bless you good sir, and I love your work.

Thank you for this. I love your tutorials. Perfect pace, brilliantly explained and you've a great voice to listen to. Pleasurable and helpful. 🙏

Often when I'm about to paint, I'm starting to focus too much on details, that eventually leave me wondering ,,how am I gonna draw this??". That always makes me immediately discouraged to continue drawing, so I found this video very helpful. Thank you!

I do hope my fighting with details will now have an end 💝💝💝 thank you for your art videos. The best I have ever seen...🥰🥰🥰👍have a great day....habe a great time. Wishes from Germany. Christiane

There is some good material here about cropping, values, simplification, and such. But for me, the most important things relate to "content". In other words, the rationale for choosing otherwise rather humdrum subject matter in the first place. It cannot be to just make a picture of anything and everything. There has to be some personal relationship to subject matter, which likely will even greatly impact the way it is selected, focused, and treated. The best impressionists, for example, had a way of creating incredibly well-composed scenes. Many of Monet's landscapes (well, actually all of his paintings) are so brilliantly and perfectly composed that they seem miraculous. And this is to say nothing about his unattainably genius ways of creating painterly light through his color choices and juxtapositions.

Hi Ian , can't thank you enough for continuing to teach these principles of composition. Thanks Craig

Thank you for this really good video --- very inspiring! It made me think of something about Albert Pinkham Ryder, I think I read somewhere that he was very excited when he realized he needed to look for the "masses" first. I tried to find that quote but couldn't. This is the closest I could find: “The artist should fear to become the slave of detail. He should strive to express his thought and not the surface of it. What avails a storm cloud accurate in form and color if the storm is not therein?” ― Albert Pinkham Ryder. Anyway, thanks for all the good tips.

I allow myself to get overwhelmed too easily and it often stops me from sketching or painting entirely. A gigantic THANKS to you. This was just the advice i needed. I can definitely see how cropping and simplification gives us clarity, which makes colour, brushwork, details, etc come easier later.

I'm a cartoonist and two things I've learned over the years. In cartooning "it's what you don't draw" and cartoonist spend a lot of time drawing as little as possible😀

Extremely helpful! As a new painter, I often feel overwhelmed by details. How to simplify is what I have been trying to grasp. Your video hits it nicely.

I am quickly overwhelmed by a lot of details and I don't where to start most of the time, this helped a lot. Thank you.

I think this concept is critical for new artists and valuable. I wish I would have seen this as a beginner.

just ordered the book...I am a watercolor painter...and watch your videos with intense interest that there is something in them for me.

I don't even paint or draw but I just discovered this channel and its so interesting to learn about this stuff. Maybe I just found a new hobby.

I don't know how I stumbled across your channel. But I do appreciate it. Thank you.

U are a true master of teaching painting. Thank you.

its also an amazing strength of handmade art where you're not bound by reality like in photography where you can only depict what is "real". although nowadays you can argue that with photoshop you can alter images easily, but that wouldnt be the "purest" form of photography

Really good tutorial that gets down to the nitty gritty of what to discard. I don't wish to sound pessimistic but I have real difficulty in filtering out what is the important and what is the stuff you can drop off. Being more oriented towards sound rather than vision I find this sorting visually as difficult as when training to play a piece of music when a tutor asks "What is the main message here that we are trying to get across?" and I say "I really haven't a clue - the input has as many different interpretations and reactions as there are people observing it or listening to it". For those who naturally notice such things it's easy - but for those who don't it's nigh on impossible.

I am a “mature” graphic design enrolled in university art courses, and currently in a painting class. This is VERY helpful! As are all your videos, actually. Thanks!

Beautiful summary into how to approach any complex subject matter - simplify mass, remove unnecessary detail, focus on composition and the movement within the composition. Excellent advise.

I have never heard this. The concept is wonderfully “eye opening”…. Thank you!

Have watched this specific video several times now and every time I find it so helpful for seeing differently, assessing photos differently, painting differently. Thank you so much!

You have such useful videos! Thank you from one artist to another ❤

A terrific demonstration and instruction of the principles explained at the beginning.

Thanks Ian. Your videos are eye opening, simple and answer the needs of many of us. Please keep up the good videos.

This was fascinating. I used to paint, as my one and only hobby and people liked my work. I’m coming back to painting after a stroke. Your approach has given me much to think about. Thank you.

Shape and value! Always need a refresher on these emphasis!

thank you Ian Roberts! this is a great way to see and simplify reality.

thanks old man, your voice really helped me out with anxiety.

Dear gentleman Ian Roberts: Congratulations for this wonderful lesson. I have learned a lot of precious lessons in your KZfaq Chanel. I have in my bookshelve your excelent book about Design and Painting. Have a Nice day. Davi Araújo, from Brazil.

Now I understand why I was much better at drawing when I was a kid. I wasn't bothered by trivial details like today.

I'm in Spain and I too have been having problems getting hold of your book. Had it on order since March. 😊. Meanwhile, I'm really enjoying the videos. Thank you

Useful video. This isn’t only for painting, it also helps my photographic eye. Thank you!

There is so much vital information involved in creating art. I love your tutorials, Ian; they are highly informative, incredibly inspirational and very much appreciated. ☺☺☺

I finally understand what painting values and shapes means. Thank you

Super distillation for helping me remember things.

Was trying to figure out what really caught me with your changes of the composition from the image at 7:50, and I think I figured it out. The pine tree in the background that seems to ‘distract’ from the interesting shapes of the house is basically a sharp triangle, in contrast to the other rounded trees. The house is also built on sharp triangles and squares. So it makes you put unnecessary focus on that single tree compared to the other trees in the background, when that isn’t really what you wanna accentuate in that composition. But you fixed it by rounding it like the other trees, thus drawing the attention to the shapes of the house. Probably didn’t explain what I meant in a great way but I thought it was interesting! Really insightful and interesting video, thank you for sharing your knowledge!

Watching your wonderfully explained composition principles I couldn't help but think about those people who eat the pizza and leave the crust - the eye knows where the good bits are. Define the pizza, leave the crust... ha!

This was so full of insightful things to learn. I can't believe this short lesson is free.

Just wanted to say how I appreciate what you taught me here. Thank you, Ian!

This was so helpful. Especially the part about making vertical and horizontal strokes based on the grain of what we are drawing.

These videos have been really helpful. I don't paint but the concepts you go over have helped my digital art.

I just found your channel today and idk why seeing you paint weirdly inspires me a lot. And the way you teach is really amazing too, learned more about painting than all the time in my classes combined. Thank you! :)

I always struggle so much with focusing on the details and get, quite literally, “stuck in the weeds.” This was very helpful at getting me to look at the bigger (or smaller I suppose) picture and to look at my subjects differently, thank you!

Finally, a video or person to explain logically why I need to do a study or sketch before I paint something. Now I can finally relate to this because I do struggle with being too picky in my painting, I guess someone just needed to speak to me on what would really impact me and make me do that change to make my art better I’m grateful for that. Thank you very much, sir.

So very, very helpful as always Ian. Every single one of your videos is spot on and clear. I LOVE Creative Authenticity! I've read it cover to cover twice and still refer back to it and have given several as gifts. It's a treasure! Thank you for all that you share with us!

As a light bloomer, painter, artist, I am enjoying your instruction. I just wanted to say thank you.

I've been looking for a video that explains this, and I am so grateful I found this gift you've created! Thank you for sharing this knowledge with us! I've learned SO much in 15 minutes! Thank you thank you! I hope you keep creating these videos, because they're so great!

This was a very timely instruct for me. I had been wrestling with a photo that had tons of detail but no matter what I did it never looked balanced or real. I was really frustrated until I started to erasing some of the details to redraw them but I noticed the drawing looked better. So I concentrated on one structure even though it was not dead center of the photo or drawing. This added so much depth and layers to the drawing that I eliminated some more of the small details and that improved the message as well. To say I was shocked is an understatement yes it was not a true copy of the photo but now the drawing conveyed the same message as the photo. Then to watch your video this morning and it’s subject valid what I was seeing. I have not shown it to my number one critic, my wife, to sees if she what she thinks. Thanks again.

I’d only recently taken up sketching (I’m working my way up to painting) and stumbled onto something like this method. While I could use some of these tips on cropping, I say that focusing on the bigger lines is the difference between me knowing I couldn’t draw for 40 years, and being able to make pencil scratches look more or less like the scene they are portraying. It’s incredibly helpful

Great information! THANK YOU!

Thanks Ian, I needed that lol. As always you have taken something very complicated and distilled it down to the essentials. Thank you for your masterful and generous teaching.

I’m a complete beginner regarding drawing and watercolour and I found this extremely helpful. I do get overwhelmed by detail and then my drawing or painting turns into an unholy mess. I shall put these tips into practice as of now. Thank you and I have subscribed.

Thanks Ian, your videos really help me! You teach me all the things my art teacher never did!! Very grateful for you sharing you expertise!

You make it seem so simple! Thank you for explaining your thought process

This was the best video to watch. I have an eye and mind for detail, this video did get at explaining how to broaden the scope and make looking at the design less overwhelming. Thank you 😊

You always look to the point, Master. Thank you for the lesson!

Really finding your videos very helpful. Shapes, design, structure; like having a road map. Now I understand how helpful drawing is before launching into a painting. Yes I’ve always been distracted by the detail. So glad I’ve found your channel.

Once more, I love your clear example and lucid explanations. This video has inspired me to do my own 30 day composition challenge. Thank you and always happy to see another video from you.

Super. Surely, you need a general concept about the process of simplification--a great video! Thank you, Ian.

You are an amazing teacher. Straight to the point, easy to follow and the perfect amount of enthusiasm to keep me engaged. Thank you for sharing!

One of the best art tutorials I’ve seen. Thank you.

I feel lucky to find out your channel. Thank you so much!!!! Happy new year from Vietnam.

Now that is a lesson. Thanks so much for sharing!

Layout and composition is my bane in design, so this was really helpful!