art tip: more detail doesn’t make something ”better”

asklayaleopard:

amalgarn:

it makes it more complicated and more time consuming and while it can be very impressive, it can also make your work an unreadable and muddy mess

you can add detail to make your work more visually interesting, but you need to be critical of your actions and decisions when doing this. ask yourself what the purpose or message is you’re trying to get across

does the detail add to it or distract from it? is there a story being told with this detail? is the focus still in the right place? could you add details in a way that directs the viewers eye to where you want it to go?

does the detail have contrast that separates it from necessary elements?  have you spent so much time and attention to the little details that the full image is lost?

this goes for all kinds of visual art, illustrations, animations, character designs, backgrounds, etc.

function over form, always. though in this sense, the function kind of is the form

(Pic source: http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=356 )