Tips & Techniques

Breaking a subject into simple shapes

Transcribed from the program.
One of the things I want to show people is that you can take a subject matter that is really pretty intimidating and break it down into its simplest shape and form.

I love architecture, and I want people not to be so intimidated by big subjects.

Emily Dickinson's Homestead has a lot of angles and wings coming off of it.

If you take whatever it is you are trying to paint and just break it down into its simplest shape, it's not half as intimidating.

Instead of thinking of this as Emily Dickinson's Homestead, think of it in terms of a series of rectangles.

The main portion of the building is a rectangle.

Even the entryway, the little porch, is just a smaller rectangle. Next to that is a bigger rectangle, and then another rectangle.

The ell off the back is a horizontal rectangle.

So, basically you've got a series of four rectangles with triangles on top.

When you think something is too daunting a subject, just break it down into its simplest shape and form.

Back to list of painting tips.