My mentor told me to stop adding detail to every leaf and branch in my landscape art

He said I was overworking the backgrounds and making my pieces feel cluttered, so I cut back on the tiny stuff for the last three pieces I submitted to a gallery show. Now two of them sold and the one with the most detail didn't even get a look. How do you know when enough is enough with the fine details?

2 comments

2 Comments

brian_murray17d ago

That mentor gave you solid advice and the sales prove it. Too much detail in the background just pulls the eye away from the main subject and makes everything fight for attention. The piece that didn't sell probably had that same problem where nothing stood out because everything was too busy. You hit that sweet spot when the background supports the main focus without screaming for attention itself. Sounds like you figured out the answer already with those two sales backing you up.

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blair_davis5017d ago

Wait, is it always a bad thing if the background has some detail though? Sometimes a busier setting can actually tell a story about where the subject is or what they're doing, which adds to the piece. Maybe that unsold piece just needed a different audience rather than a simpler background.