I am new to painting and am very new to oil, so I am BEGGING for advice on this painting. I changed my mind on my drawing mid-way and when I tried to paint the grass, the lines showed through my sap green and ultra marine blue mix (apparently both are transparent). So I used burnt sienna or something. To try to justify all the red in my grass, I added color to the sky. At any rate, now I have mud! So .....What needs to be done to the whole painting to make it work? or is it even redeemable?
I am also new to painting & have done the same thing! Hope someone answers you - However, I really like the painting - the sky is wonderful, the color of the buildings, etc.....actually the "mud" kind of works - it frames the focal point & 'feels' like those areas are in shadow.
Judy C&C appreciated
I also posted this in 'Critique my artwork' and did get some very constructive feedback. You might want to read through those posts. As it turns out, the top wasn't considered so bad, but I split the painting in half (big no, no) and had nothing to tie the top to the bottom. Also, another artist gave me good suggestions on fixing the grass, which was a big improvement. He had me wait until it was dry, then paint over all the grass with a lighter green, then let that dry and go back and add soft red and blues with a dry brush to get variation of tone without all the mud. That worked really well, then I changed my mind about parts of the painting, so I have a bit of a mess again, but at least know what to do. In the end I gave up on my 'vision' and am working on it to improve my skills and try some things out. I'll put it back up when I'm through. If you're new, too, I imagine you are as overwhelmed by how much there is to learn as I am. It sure is a fun thing to learn, though!
This is a great site! I have been here a few months & it's starting to feel like a comfortable friend's (ok lots of friends!) home I visit often.
Thanks for letting me know where you got answers to your question - I will definitely check it out....................have fun!
Very talented. You did split the canvas, however, not by much and it isn't that far off....it certainly is reedemable.
I tried to reply but with more for you but it didn't show ????
once more.....
The only thing I'd like to add is this touch of a brighter red placed where the sun hits the barn.That impact will help to overcome any so called muddiness you feel there is. You are learning but, I wish you to know that the muddiness as you say, gave the sense of the coming rain or storm approaching, at least it did for me. I sincerely hope that you do not regret the wholesale changes you were making. To make the changes you talked about will effect the paintings' mood. That would be fine, if that is what you were after.
Winston Churchill once said there is nothung to oil painting, you just take the right color and place it in the right place!
Now, please read this book, I believe you will thank me! "Problem Solving for Oil Painters" by Gregg Kreutz.
I like the idea of adding some sun there! As it is, all the red is too similar; so I think it will help the sunny area read better. I'm getting close to calling it quits on this painting and moving on, so I'll post it soon. I don't have any regrets except, I did add people which suddenly is competing with the barns, so that might have been a bad idea. We'll see! : )
I suppose I am getting into your 'business' and if I am, please forgive me. It's just that I am retired and have a lot of time on my hands. However, if you don't mind, I 'd also like to suggest that you add some darkness to the resesses of the buildings. That might be something you would like. Oh, and if the people are 'competing with the barn, add some complimentary colors to the hues that are used to create the people and that will mute them....(if they are in the shade0....Oh, there I go again, sorry...a bit too anxious to see what you are going to do wjth this nice start....
Hi CD!
Like the other feedback, I would agree with the placement of the horizon line. One way to fix it would be to move the laundry line so that one end of it drapes up past the horizon towards the upper part of the page.
Remember that dark colors come towards you, and lighter colors recede... So if you want the laundry to appear closer they do need to be darker... But I don't suggest brighter.
Is this oil paint? ... Acrylics are pretty easy to layer over, so I would do a base color over the grass area and then scumble back in texture with some top colors.... If its oil, and still wet, if you don't like the colors I do recommend using a thinner and whipping off what you don't want.
No painting should be tossed - you saw something lovely and creative in the original scene... It just will take some creative license to fix the composition. You do have lovely brushstrokes, and the scenes around the undergrowth and trees are pretty terrific!
one way to experiment without using any paint is to make cut outs of the laundry ant place them on the canvas where you would put them if you we're interested in changing the angle ooff the laundry line. - that way you can see what it would look like before schanging anything! I do that all the time when I'm stuck on a composition problem.
Great job for a first painting...!!!
Red
cdriskell: I am new to painting and am very new to oil, so I am BEGGING for advice on this painting. I changed my mind on my drawing mid-way and when I tried to paint the grass, the lines showed through my sap green and ultra marine blue mix (apparently both are transparent). So I used burnt sienna or something. To try to justify all the red in my grass, I added color to the sky. At any rate, now I have mud! So .....What needs to be done to the whole painting to make it work? or is it even redeemable?
I just re-read your statement and I wondered what you used to draw the basic layout. You said the lines still showed through. If the underlying drawing was done in graphite pencil, then, I'd would strongly suggest that you discard graphite and use charcoal instead....
U. J.
Boy, am I having a time of it posting! 3rd attempt..
Here is the final painting of the farm trying to incorporate the good advice I received. Critiques are welcome, but I hope they're small suggestions since I don't know if I can paint this any longer. haha. I'm ready to go back to acrylics for a little break from these challenging oils and paint a motorcycle. I'm pretty sure I'll never paint laundry again. : )
Thanks to all who have been willing to help a novice. I've learned so much through this and really appreciate all the help. I am forever grateful!
From other thread - Nice to see you worked something out. You went with a framing technique - making the structure in the background the main subject.
Yeah - staying on something too long can definitely burn you out - but it is good to stay in long enough to conquer issues you run into.
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