I’ve been thinking a lot about how my wife and I look at things when we’re out hiking or at the beach. We go almost every day, and it’s always a bit of an adventure. The funny thing is, even though we’re walking in the same spot and seeing the same landscape, we never seem to focus on the same details.
I’ll be looking out at the horizon, maybe the rolling hills or a sweeping view of the ocean. But then she’ll point out some bird on a branch or the way a certain plant is growing in the shade. It’s not like we’re looking at totally different places—we’re right next to each other. But her eyes go to the wildlife, while mine go straight to the bigger picture.
Painting What We See
This difference shows up in our art, too. I paint more abstract stuff. For me, it’s about the big, sweeping vistas. The way the colors shift over the hills or how the lines pull your eyes across the canvas. I’m not too worried about making it look like the exact thing I saw. It’s more about what the scene made me feel, how it moved me.
On the other hand, my wife’s paintings are more realistic. She’ll zero in on the animals or the details of the landscape, making sure the colors and shapes match what she saw. It’s not like one way of painting is better than the other—just different. We both take away different pieces of the same experience.
Why It Matters in Our Art
I guess what I’m saying is that two people can be in the same spot, look at the same scene, and walk away with two totally different ideas of what they saw. That’s the beauty of art, right? We all see things in our own way, and what we choose to put on canvas is our way of sharing that perspective.
The video I’ve shared with this post is a perfect example of how I interpret a scene. It’s not just about copying nature—it’s about showing how it feels to stand there and take it all in. I’ve abstracted the landscape, using the colors and lines in a way that felt right to me in the moment.
What’s Interesting to Me
It’s interesting how this works, and I think it’s one of the reasons I love painting so much. It’s not just about making something pretty or realistic. It’s about trying to capture the feeling of a place, and sometimes that means painting something that doesn’t look like anything you’d actually see out there. That’s what art is for—taking what you see, putting your own spin on it, and showing people the world through your eyes.
So, next time you look at a painting or stand in front of a scene, maybe take a second to think about what you’re focusing on. Are you looking at the whole picture or just a piece of it? And what would you want to capture if you were the one painting it?
