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Solving A Painting That Is Not Working, Part 2

Posted in Art Work, and Peeking Behind the Easel

Solving A Painting That Is Not Working, Part 2

 I suggested several steps yesterday to take when you can't figure out why a painting isn't working. For this painting, even turning it upside down wasn't getting me to what the problem was.  So luckily for me, my family was here. Family – especially teens and young 20's will tell you the truth – even when you didn't ask them.   : )

My family was curious how I could  fix the imbalance after they noticed the problem.  Since they were interested I got them involved in step 1 – brainstorm how to fix it.   With my chalk – step 2 – I sketched out on the painted canvas our ideas. [ Chalk is great  – it doesn't disturb the painting and wipes right off. ]    We tried adding more sunflowers, more details on the pumpkins, pumpkin leaves and vines from the stems, until someone blurted out turning it into a jack- 0-lantern.  Whoa!….. that was not at all what I had been thinking. 

But you know what?  It worked. It balanced the painting and added a light note to the painting to match the color palette I had chosen.  Here's the chalked idea:

Using chalk to try out details on a painting

And here's the final painting after also adding a final tint on the pumpkins and photographing in natural light:

I had envisioned an Indian summer day for this painting, picking a light palette of colors rather than the usual darker colors used in pumpkin paintings. Adding a face to the pumpkin kept a lightness in the painting in addition to balancing out a composition error.  In a roundabout way, that's where the painting ended up – a warm, Indian summer day in early October.

What do you think?

 

 

Solving A Painting That Is Not Working

Posted in Art Work, and Peeking Behind the Easel

Solving A Painting That Is Not Working

It happens to all of us. You're happily working on a painting and as you think you are finished, you can see something is not right. Sometimes it's obvious like the colors are clashing, or the proportions are wrong.  Other times……you just can't see where the problem is but you know it's there.  What to do?  Here's some suggestions I use:

– move the painting to another room for fresh perspective

– turn it upside down.  You'd be amazed at how this simple trick helps your eye see the painting differently

 – put it away for a few days and look at it with fresh eyes.

 – show it to another artist  – they can usually see where the problem lies.

– ask your family members – they never hold back the truth and they look at it differently since they are not artists

Here is my current painting that is having issues:

When a painting isn't working - sibstudio.com

Can you see what isn't working?

My family noticed right away that the painting was lopsided.  Non artist words but right on target.  If you mentally divide the painting in 1/2 – the right half has sunflowers and pumpkins, the left half – it's one pumpkin. A composition boo boo that I missed way back in the sketching out of the painting.

How to fix this?  

Step one – brainstorm how to balance the painting, 

Step two – get a piece of everyday chalk and start sketching out right on the painting what changes might work.

Stay tuned tomorrow to see what we came up with! 

 

 

Catalog Daydreaming

Posted in Musing About Art

Catalog Daydreaming

Dreams —-> Enter Here. That's what I think when I see a big thick catalog in my mail box. There is something  wonderful about a big catalog arriving unexpectedly in the mailbox. Looking through pages of paint color samples, brushes of all shapes, pastels, canvases, and lots and lots of art supplies is such a idea generator. 

New cataog goodies

Thick catalogs are becoming an unusual sight in these digital times. Is it going the way of horse and buggies? Will I be rambling on about catalogs only to have my future grand kids give me a blank stare and ask what a catalog is?……. !

I am going to scoop up this catalog before it becomes a relic of the past, and open the pages and daydream about new colors, how to use that odd shaped brush, and generate new ideas for paintings.   : )

Painting Dew Drops

Posted in Art Work, and Peeking Behind the Easel

Painting Dew Drops

After posting on dew drops this week, I was curious about how to paint them. It's not something I've painted before. Over the years, I've saved "how to" pages from various art magazines. I keep them in clear page holders in a  loose leaf notebook.  It comes in handy as a great reference for times like this.

Turns out that I have saved instructions from several artists on how they paint dew drops. All of them have the same basics: transparent wash of light  yellow to form the drop, darker shade of the leaf or flower for the shadow in the drop and the cast shadow, and a highlight on the dark shadow of the drop.  Highlighting over the shadow of the drop was the part that was most interesting to me. Usually the light side is highlighted, instead the shadow side is to create the appearance of translucency.  Here's my first try:

1st try at painting dew drops

I used a scrap of watercolor paper leftover from trimming a painting. The middle leaf is based too dark to give a good effect but I was pleased with the left and right leaves for my first attempt. I am inspired by fooling around with painting dew drops. I'll be working on a painting this week including dew drops. Stay tuned.  

If Dewdrops Were Diamonds

Posted in Peeking Behind the Easel

If Dewdrops Were Diamonds

In these end of the summer mornings the dew is heavy on every surface.  The practical side of my brain says great time to sow grass seed on the bares spots of the yard.  The art side of my brain…. sees it quite differently. A sea of sparkling dewdrops as far as the eye can see, shining in the new morning light.  Like diamonds twinkling in the sunlight.  What if each dewdrop was a diamond?

Dew drops on grass

Diamonds…… waiting to be scooped up in baskets, like Easter eggs during a hunt. 

Close  Up view of Dew Drops

  The mini drops look like diamond seedling,  I love the ones hanging off the blade of grass. If dew drops were diamonds…. I suppose they would not be as valued since they would now be as common as dew drops in the morning light.    : )

Enjoy the beauty of your day !