shrinking picture

I remember a seventh-grade English assignment with Mr. MacAlpine, in which we had to take a familiar fairy tale, rewrite it as a multi-act play, and then reduce it to a one-act play. I don’t remember knowing what the point was at the time, but today I think I do. I give myself an “A” for “At last, I get it.”
 
Last year I painted a beach scene in oils at 18 x 24 in. It was so boring. This week, I tried it again in pastels at 9 x 12 in. Now I overworked it. Right after I finished (shoulder shrug), I tried it again, this time on a 4 x 6 in panel. I was deliberate with my strokes, but still did it in about 15 minutes. I had reduced the image to its simplest shapes, lines, and color, to understand which elements were most important. AND, while it’s a sweet little image on its own, it’s also just what I need as a study if I want to tackle this scene again at a larger size and expand upon what I’ve deemed are the crucial components.