The Accuracy Trap

                                     Knickercane

This very popular painting location features a lobster pound building.  I've painted it many times, too, sometimes with more successful results than others.  This time it wasn't the building that was my focal point, but the birch trees in the foreground.  The building was subordinated to a supporting element.

Because I wanted to emphasize the birch trees as my major subject, I eliminated as much texture in the background trees as possible.  But I needed the building to help locate the site, as well as give some interest to an otherwise uninteresting background shape.  Three problems presented themselves when incorporating the building while also subordinating it to a supporting element that didn't detract from the birch trees which were my focal point.

The first problem is that the building is painted green.  Trying to accurately portray the structure has always been a problem because the actual color matches the greens in the trees, making it  hard to stand out.  So I decided to change the color to white! 

Second, I reduced the size of the building so it wasn't as prominent as it is usually portrayed.

Third, I eliminated doors, windows and other architectural features that would attract attention to the background and elevate the importance of the building.  The inclusion of the building therefore was reduced to the purpose of interrupting the line of background trees.

So re-think the tendency to portray the scene accurately and "truthfully".  Keep the focal point in mind when selecting other elements to include.