This is about the 5th layer. I’ve incorporated the previous critiques of Tad (increase darks in the lower portions to highlight the flowers and figure) and Cynthia (attend to the light and shadows in the face so they aren’t all similar). I believe it is coming along. It is a BIG step for me, away from my too detailed and photographic realism towards a more painterly approach. I aspire to this impressionistic style, and will keep trying to do this in future work. I’m particularly pleased with how the shadow and light shapes on the shirt focus attention on the held flower. But there is still a way to go with this portrait.  The following critique arrived from Tad Spurgeon an hour ago, based on a jpg I sent him,so I have more painting to go (tonight) before I sleep:

The figure is getting better, yes.  You want to be careful of all the highlights being too similar in tone, in this case white.  Different local colors produce different highlight colors: try to puzzle this out further at this point.  What is the highlight color in dark brown hair?  On the red shirt?  The skin?  They are different colors.  Also, when light passes through foliage, you get the yellow green highlight, when it reflects, you get a highlight that is more about the color of the sky.  You also don’t want all your highlights reading in the same plain: the closest ones should be brightest, further ones softer and dimmer.  This may all be fine in the real image, I’m reading from the small JPEG you sent.  The light in summer is warm, You can generally warm up the light in this image without getting into trouble.  It also looks like some of the darker foliage spots have gotten a bluer cast: they want to go back towards olive a bit.

You are in a middle ground with this image between a simplified realism and something more impressionistic.  Unless you want to get into more broken color everywhere, you might tone down the amount of broken color in the background, so that it’s painted the same way as the figure.  You can paint any way you want to, but in general all elements of a naturalistic painting should be done the same way.

On July 3 I spent some time getting feedback from Tad Spurgeon on my recent efforts. You can read his comments about my visit in the 2nd paragraph of his July 3 “News” blog here. When you get to the page, scroll down from the top to the 2nd paragraph of the July 3rd entry.

On another topic, there are now 7 students in the upcoming workshop on Drawing with Negative Space which will occur at 9 a.m., at the North Hero Library on July 14. If you want to attend, please email me so I can put you on the list. We have room for five more!

For more information online about this topic, click on the following URL’s:

http://drawsketch.about.com/od/learntodraw/ss/negativespace.htm

http://www2.arts.ubc.ca/TheatreDesign/crslib/drw04/negsp.htm

http://www.learn-to-draw.com/members/drawing-basics/0110.htm

http://practicallycreative.net/2007/03/20/negative-space-a-drawing-tutorial/

You can also view an interesting, short, digital, figure drawing video on this topic, To view this video, click here!

and no one ever saw anything I did, would I continue?   Just finished hanging the St. J. exhibit.  It was a LOT of work, a long drive, and costly (I hired someone to help me because with a bad shoulder it would have been waaaay to much to do).   It took a whole day.  The folks at the Catamount Gallery are most kind, and I’ve been donating work to them for awhile, but the whole exhibition thing is now a question mark in my mind, which brings up more questions about purpose, meaning, etc.  I sell a few paintings, but clearly this is more about ego than $. If a few people show up on the 11th, that’ll be fine and it’s always interesting to talk to folks who enjoy seeing the work.  But this show is a documentary about process, in text, photos, and finished paintings, and that took a major chunk of time this past 4 months.  So when it’s all over I’ll be revisiting the question again.  If I painted on an island, how long would I keep it up …….?   I keep journals and no one sees them but me, but the purpose there is more self exploration.  I don’t think of painting in that way, though I suppose it is.  So I guess this exhibition is a teaching effort, to let viewers see how it’s done (or at least how I do it). Read the rest of this entry »