Better choices about what's essential in life and art

This month’s newsletter revisits one I wrote in July 2022.

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Life is complicated.  

I’ve been feeling overwhelmed recently and you probably feel the same. Too much change, too much divisiveness, too much information, too much pain, too many choices, too many decisions, and too much detail. The abundance current is flowing like a firehose, breaking down the old, revealing what’s been hidden underneath and I feel out of breath from swimming to keep up with it all. 

I need to breathe. I need time to pause and reflect. 

One of the advantages of being older and wiser is having more tools for problem-solving. When it feels like everything matters and everything is urgent the tool I use is to create a space where I check in with myself and realign with what really matters to me. 

I have done years of work clarifying my personal values, my purpose, and what it feels like to be fulfilled and satisfied. Good health, freedom, deep connections, learning, reflection, joy, creation, and teaching are most important to me. Knowing what is essential helps me to identify my priorities and pass on those problems that are not mine to solve. 

The story below helps me differentiate among everything I am called to do.

There once was a philosophy professor who was giving a lecture. In front of him, he had a big glass jar, a pile of rocks, a bag of small pebbles, a tub of sand, and a bottle of water.

He started by filling up the jar with the big rocks and when they reached the rim of the jar, he held it up to the students and asked them if the jar was full. They all agreed, there was no more room to put the rocks in, it was full.

“Is it full?” he asked.

He then picked up the bag of small pebbles and poured these into the jar. He shook the jar so that the pebbles filled the space around the big rocks. “Is the jar full now?” he asked. The group of students all looked at each other and agreed that the jar was now completely full.

“Is it really full?” he asked.

The professor then picked up the tub of sand. He poured the sand in between the pebbles and the rocks and once again he held up the jar to his class and asked if it was full. Once again, the students agreed that the jar was full.

“Are you sure it’s full?” he asked.

He finally picked up a bottle of water and tipped the water into the jar until it soaked up in all the remaining space in the sand. The students laughed.

The professor went on to explain that the jar of rocks, pebbles, sand, and water represent everything that is in one's life.

The rocks represent the most important things that have real value – your health, your family, your partner. Those things that if everything else (the pebbles and the sand) was lost and only they remained, your life would still have meaning.

The pebbles represent the things in your life that matter, but that you could live without. The pebbles are things that give your life meaning (such as your job, house, hobbies, and friendships), but they are not critical for you to have a meaningful life. These things often come and go, and are not permanent or essential to your overall well-being.  

If you fill the jar in the opposite order there would be no room for the rocks. No room for what’s essential to you.

Written by Siddhi Latey (Weloquent)

This lens of essentialism will improve your artwork as well as your life.

Our paintings often try to say too much, with too much information. When we don’t really know what it is that we want to say, we have no idea what belongs on the canvas and what belongs in the discard pile. 

It's easy to overwhelm your viewer with all the information in your scene and all the marks and shapes you fell in love with. 

A poet uses only the most essential words to communicate. Your painting can be an entire novel or, like a poem, elegantly capture a single perfect moment.

Whether you are a realist or an abstract artist what’s essential to your art is distillation - expressing your idea in the simplest way possible using shape, composition, and color. 

This system of essential questions can help you to evaluate your artwork as it evolves from concept to completion.

I'm going to use this photo as an example of how to zero in on the essence of an artwork and how to apply the essential questions. Select one of your own source images and walk through the process along with me.

Essence:

What matters most in this artwork? Can you express your idea with less? 

Is there one corner that you love more than anything, a mark or line that moves in a particular way? Could you format (crop) the image to contain just that one thing and eliminate the rest? 

There is always a choice, and we can simply leave out what is not needed to tell the essence of our story.

Ask yourself if you can tell the story using just 20% of the information in your resource image?

How much of the other 80% of the detail could be sublimated into a larger value zone?

Is there a clear path of priority through your artwork? Pick and choose what stays and goes so you amplify the essential and delete or diminish the rest.

What attracts me the most in the original photo we started with is the waterfall.

Here are two possible formats that capture the essence of this waterfall.

I think the vertical image has a more interesting pathway and interlocking asymmetrical dark shape than the horizontal one above.

Rocks/Value:

Squint at your image… Is the simplest, essential form of the image apparent?

When you reduce your image to two values (black and white) is the essence clear?

Is the strongest contrast of light/dark at your most important event?

What happens when you add more values? Value zones can be used to contain and compress detail. When you set the endpoints of your value scale closer together, emotion is enhanced. 

How are you using value to separate one shape from another?

How are you using value to join your shapes?

Below is a clear 2-value pattern (Notan) that conveys the essence of the image.

I rely on the Notanizer App to evaluate my photos before using them as resources for a painting. Follow this link for a tutorial.

Below is how the image might look with more values. These additional values are being used to separate my large shapes into smaller zones.

Value Zones:

As I add the details back in, I associate the details with a larger value zone. Each value zone has a limited range of values in it.

My most significant value drop is at the focal point, and my focal point is in the correct rule of thirds location. If I want to draw even more attention there, I can exaggerate the effect of the waterfall hitting the river.

Rocks/Shape:

What are the main structural forms in your image? 

Asymmetrical shapes are more appealing. Can you adjust yours to be less symmetrical? 

In this photograph, the background and the waterfall itself are almost rectangular. These two shapes contrast as the background is light and the waterfall is dark. The stones in the river take interesting bites out of the darkest shape, so the shapes become less symmetrical as they advance towards the viewer. I see four basic shapes - the background, the waterfall, the large stone in front, and the river that arcs around it. Each of these shapes has its own value zone, and the river is close enough in value to the waterfall that those two shapes visually join together. The white highlights are not forming a larger shape, but visually they associate, so we know they tell us about the movement of the water without breaking apart the larger shapes.

Could you say what you need with fewer shapes? Are there smaller shapes to combine into a larger mass that interlocks with two or three sides of the canvas?

Have you considered the negative space as a shape?

Ready for painting

Sand/Color:

Consider the color grouping you will employ for harmony & mood?

Will your painting be based on a particular color or color arrangement that contributes to its essence? 

Which color interaction will have priority in each of the following three contrasts?



Choose one for each contrast of:

• Hue - similar/dissimilar
• Value - low/med/high
• Saturation - low/medium/high

Hue is the name of the color, usually one of twelve around the color wheel. Saturation is the strength of the hue. Saturation is reduced by adding black, white, or a complement to a hue. Value is the range of light/dark in your colors. 

Pebbles/Play (Variation): 

Play is the pebbles in your container of composition. Play doesn't just help us explore what is essential; it is essential in and of itself. Play creates the poetry in your work. 

Variation and difference keep the composition interesting and alive. Map the pathway of priority through the artwork as you vary (play with) the interval, length, height, angle, weight, color, and value of your shapes and marks. 

Example 1:

In the rose painting below my color harmony is split complementary - Red-Orange, Yellow-Green, Blue-Green

Choose one for each contrast of:

• Hue - similar/dissimilar
• Value - low/med/high
• Saturation - low/medium/high

Notice the variations in height, angle, weight, color, and value of the roses.

Is the essence clear?

Example 2:

In this painting, my color harmony is Analogous - Green, Blue, and Violet. warm colors are extremely limited and neutralized.

Choose one for each contrast of:

• Hue - similar/dissimilar
• Value - low/med/high
• Saturation - low/medium/high

Notice the variations in height, angle, weight, color, and value of the architecture and the hydrangeas.



Is the essence clear? Can you tell what inspired me here?

Example 3:

Waterfall abstraction

In this painting, the artist's color harmony is Analogous - using cool colors and very little contrast. This painting feels poetic in its minimalism.

Choose one for each contrast of:

• Hue - similar/dissimilar
• Value - low/med/high
• Saturation - low/medium/high

Notice the variations in height, angle, weight, color, and value of the water.

Is the essence clear? Can you tell what inspired this artist? Is it poetic?

Finished: 

One of the hardest and most essential questions is how to tell when your painting is finished. 

It seems like there is always more you could do and more you could add. Your painting is not just about regurgitating the facts but about returning to what inspired you to create it.

Reflect on your original intent when you chose the essence of this artwork. How did you live up to your vision for your artwork? Is there unity? Poetry? Perhaps you did not attain your entire vision for the piece. But if you captured the essence of your inspiration, you have more than enough. 

At some point, you need to declare the artwork the best you can do at this time.

If the essence of the piece truly inspires you, remember you can return to the point of inspiration and create a series of variations on your theme.

Done is better than perfect. I often return to old artworks years later, pop them out of their frames and revise them with what I learned.

In situations of overwhelm in art and in life, less is more. 

There is relief in amplifying the essential and leaving the rest. Picking and choosing what belongs and what does not is essential.

Understanding the difference between the things that feel urgent and those that are truly important not only reduces overwhelm but is critical self-care. 

Efficiently completing urgent but unimportant tasks keeps me from being effective in the areas that matter most to me. Reflecting on what is essential helps me to reorder my priorities and be effective as a human, an artist, and a teacher.

In art as in life, having a system returns our effort many times over. Figure out your priority list. Reduce or omit what holds you back. Walk away from dead ends. Amplify yourself and your work by concentrating on and creating more of what matters to you. 

Whether you’re an established artist seeking new horizons or a budding creative looking to elevate your work, I hope I have inspired you to amplify your impact as an artist. When you paint with passion, you ignite your flames and inspire others to do the same.

Perhaps I can invite you to join my artistic “circle,” where I

can generously share all I know to support your creative

development. Don't hesitate to contact me if you want my

mentorship, guidance, and advice in exploring your artistic

path. It makes me happy to share my insights and my

knowledge with you.

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I welcome the opportunity for connection, conversation, cooperation, collaboration, and commissions.

Live heARTfully

Susan Convery

Sources:

Quote:

The beholder’s eye, which moves like an animal grazing, follows paths prepared for it in the picture - Paul Klee

Would you like to join me for a painting retreat in June 2026?

I was contacted by a company that hosts painting retreats in Europe to see if I could gather a group of at least eight people for an all-inclusive holiday in either Sicily or Marrakech. Once I have five people interested, I will select the location and date. Please call me and I will share all the details with you.

Sketchbook Prompt:

Select a famous realist painting and make it abstract. 

What happens when you remove the details and reduce a beautiful artwork down to simplified unrecognizable shapes and color blocks? Does the painting still “work”?

Title: A Brew-tiful Day

Media: Watercolor

Size: 22"x 28"

Frame: Gold

Price:$1111

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