When you begin a painting, the natural instinct is to replicate every little wrinkle, cast shadow, and subtle nuance. But strong painting starts with drawing and structure. You must distill a composition down to its essential shapes and accurate proportions. That includes clear focal points and a compelling value structure. Once you have that you can worry about expressive brushwork.
Start with the underlying basic shapes
I’ve mentioned that I have the advantage of being slightly nearsighted, and I don’t paint with my glasses on. The rest of you can squint. What are the big masses? Forget identifying whether that’s a tree or a house; it’s a mass topped with another mass.
Every complex form or scene can be broken down into simplified geometric shapes. In addition to making better compositions, shape simplification helps you map proportion. Of course, you’ll occasionally need to check how tall vs. how wide the objects are and where they intersect.
Do this work in a sketchbook, where an ounce of prevention (drawing) is worth a pound of cure (overworking the painting).
How to block in a compelling composition
Once you understand the basic shapes, place them on your drawing. I never work inside a box; instead, I draw and then crop my drawing to match my canvas size. In fact, sometimes I do this several times, searching for the strongest composition.
This allows me to explore all aspects of the idea before I commit to a composition. Sometimes I do a carefully-realized drawing. More typically, my drawing is not even identifiable as the subject; it’s merely a series of shapes.
How much of the canvas will the largest shape occupy? Is it part of a repeating motif or a one-off? Is it dark or light? Is it centered or offset? What quiet passages or negative space balance it? How does it support focal points?
This exploration is the most important part of painting (and to me, the most fun, since it’s fast and free). If line and value in a sketch are working, we know before we start whether the painting will end up feeling energetic, balanced, or completely static.
Refine edges before details
Working in big shapes does not mean those shapes remain unrefined; in fact, the best loose painters are the ones working from beautifully-drawn outlines. Drawing is the scaffolding of painting. Get the edges and proportions right while the shapes are still bold and simple.
Simplify and emphasize for impact
The beauty of this approach is that it can be pursued to whatever level of finish you like—either left wide open or with a high level of detail. With structure locked in, you can choose to paint the smaller elements as you wish, as long as you don’t overwrite your initial bold composition.
However, even the most meticulous realists edit some things out. For example, look at the above painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. At first glance, it’s highly detailed, but that’s selective. The robes are simplified, the carpet is simplified, and the background is simplified. (It’s huge, by the way.) Ingres knew what he wanted us to look at, and everything else is subservient to that. With a strong composition, his viewers instantly felt the power of Napoleon’s imperial pretensions, even before they noticed the details that Ingres did include.
Once the bones are in place, you can worry about style
Once shapes, proportion, value and placement are set, you can worry about brushwork. That includes lost-and-found edges, which can lead the eye through lesser forms and amplify major passages. You’ll find you’re a lot closer to looser brushwork if you lay a strong foundation first.
There are openings in my January-February Zoom classes
Trust the Process: making technique tell the story you want to tell
Monday evenings, 6-9, Jan. 5-Feb. 9, 2026
Where Do I Fit In?
Tuesday evenings, 6-9, Jan. 6-Feb. 10, 2026
Registration is now open for workshops in 2026! Reserve your spot:
- Canyon Color for the Painter | Sedona, AZ, March 9-13, 2026
- Advanced Plein Air Painting | Rockport, ME, July 13-17, 2026
- Sea & Sky | Acadia National Park, ME, August 2–7, 2026
- Find your Authentic Voice in Plein Air | Berkshires, MA, August 10-14, 2026
- New! Color Clinic 2026 | Rockport, ME, October 3-4, 2026
- New! Composition Week 2026 | Rockport, ME, October 5-9, 2026