I choose which landscape patterns to emphasize by asking where I want the viewer to look. In this desert painting, I reduced the open dirt patterns in the foreground so they would not compete with the mountain.
Notice positive and negative shapes
The mountain has patterns within it, and the lower landscape has its own pattern of vegetation and open ground. I can play either area up or down. Simply finding a pattern in nature does not mean I have to give it full strength in the painting.
Here, the mountain was the area I wanted to emphasize. I left out some of the open dirt shapes I had seen in the foreground because I felt they would attract too much attention below.
Test what extra pattern does
On the computer, I add more of those foreground openings and switch between versions. As they accumulate, the lower half becomes busier and my eye is pulled down toward it.
That comparison shows why I kept the original foreground quieter. The question is not just whether an individual mark looks interesting. It is whether the combined pattern supports the attention I want elsewhere in the picture. When you look at a reference or paint outside, consider where a pattern needs more emphasis and where it needs less.
Continue with video How much detail is too much? and Pick a dominant shape.
