There's a simple tool I use while painting. I blur my vision. Try it. Yes, that. When you blur your vision, you can only see the essentials. You see forms of objects, primary tones of colors, simple light and shadows. You can't see details. In a face for example, you can see the smudge of eyes, bridge of the nose, shape of the mouth, contours of the face, a hint of ears, and tufts of hair but not details such as the color and shape of eyes. If you get these essentials wrong then whatever else you may try will not allow your painting to achieve its moment of truth. I see several works of art that focus on details but get the form wrong including some very famous ones. See this painting by Travancore artist Raja Ravi Varma - the detail is exquisite but the perspective of hands is simply wrong (why are both hands the same size when one is closer than the other?).
I also see several businesses and products do the same. For the longest time, I made the same mistakes in both art and business. I was in a hurry to complete and therefore rushed to add detail. More clients, more employees, more sales...just more without meaning. Adding detail keeps you busy and creates a notion of success because you seem to be working hard. However, if you introspect it slowly becomes clear that that success has no meaning. Of course, someone out there will say good things about your painting but so what? Your business will have growth but no meaning.
The benefit of getting the form right is that you create something that has a genuine shot at disrupting the norm. Adding detail at that point pushes the model further and differentiates it strongly creating competitive advantage. But this is hard, not just hard work. It sometimes takes forever. The exercise itself may appear futile and purpose-less because incomplete work is well...incomplete.
And then every so often we come across creations that get both the form and detail right to a surreal level - from Bang & Olufsen to the Seed Cathedral. They are eons beyond the norm, super-achieving on both functionality and design. Each element of detail brings out more meaning. Overall, it creates a Hallelujah effect. Its every experience makes you realize that it's all been worth it.
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Blur away and get clarity. Again and again.
