Grouping

In this painting at Cozy Harbor, I had about 25 boats to choose from.  I decided on three lobster boats.  The first important decision was to group them.  The second decision was to overlap them to form an interesting shape.  Then I painted around them to leave a white shape.  Finally, I wanted to show them in various positions to give some variety and movement to them.

I also decided early to leave the white sail on the left.  Its purpose is to break the long unbroken straight shoreline.  It also serves as an eye "stopper", keeping the viewer from wandering off the page. The buoy marker, antennae and stabilizer sail on the third boat also break up the straight lines and provide a stopper on the right shoreline.

You need to think about composition early on for the painting to work.  That will free you to paint freely.

Look for ways to repeat and group similar objects so that the viewer will know what your painting is all about.