Landscape challenge wip

MikeDerby

I was not sure I would be able to fit this in (and am still not) but I came across this photo taken by my mother in 1964, or thereabouts, in our back yard, and am motivated to paint it.  This is my little sister Karen.  Her only daughter, my niece, will marry this fall and I think it will be a nice commemorative gift for them both.

Summer

It's looking good!

PaulB

I would have concerns about the photo, although I realize that can't be changed.  You have already cropped the bird table, and some of the mass of that rock, the only other problem is the lack of feet.  I would sacrifice 25% off the top to include feet.

MikeDerby

I don’t have feet to crop away and I just wanted to remove the lines into the head.  The colors are ridiculous aren’t they?  I fully intend to pretend to be an artist and do my own thing.  Ha. 
Were there other things that concerned you @paulb?  I had a 16x20 canvas all set to go and just wanted to make it fit.  I actually like the composition 

PaulB

My only concerns were the feet, the bird table lines behind the head (which you addressed), the mass of that rock (which you reduced), and the centering of the subject.  In the photo the subject is left of center and facing left, which seems wrong way to me*, so shifting her to the right would balance it all in my opinion, and I would do that by cutting off more rock.

* Caveat - I really don't know what I'm talking about.  Just an opinion.

Summer

@MikeDerby, and @PaulB ; You guys are sooooo funny!      I notice that you both like to choose extremely complicated subjects to paint.  I commend you for it.  I'm wondering if it comes naturally or are you pushing yourselves?   I notice that even among illustrators, there are these two types.  Do you even know that you are different in this way?  There are others on DMP who choose to fill the whole canvas as well.  How are you different in mindset than a painter, like me, who just wants to paint a little dog, a three-object still life, or a simple landscape?  Do I even dare try it some day? 

Summer 

Renoir

Summer said:

@MikeDerby, and @PaulB ; You guys are sooooo funny!      I notice that you both like to choose extremely complicated subjects to paint.  I commend you for it.  I'm wondering if it comes naturally or are you pushing yourselves?   I notice that even among illustrators, there are these two types.  Do you even know that you are different in this way? 

Summer 

So true!!! I'm terrified of detail and just want to paint color and light yet somehow make it look like something, lol   
These two take my breath away! Coming from a large family of scientists and engineers and married to a software architect though, I have never needed to have an eye for detail since I'm submerged in it. 

It's kind of like my philosophy about housework. Some people get so focused on perfection that they use a toothbrush to scrub crevices. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.

 

Summer

Hey, I have a toothbrush for every room--haha.  My idea of Spring Cleaning is one hr. a day for three months so I am a little lazy there. 

Summer

I think the answer is in the personality and mindset of each artist.  @Renoir ; Your paintings fill up the whole canvas, as you say, with large areas of color and light.  It is your personality.  It makes life interesting how we all paint so differently.  The one thing we all have in common, though, I believe is that we are all authentic to our true selves in our art even though we are all learning the same DMP method of painting.  This has surprised me.  Even if that difference is only subject matter, we remain authentic.  Glad to see it too!   

PaulB

Summer said:

I notice that you both like to choose extremely complicated subjects to paint.  I commend you for it.  I'm wondering if it comes naturally or are you pushing yourselves?

Both.  I'm drawn to complexity and detail, so that's what I like to paint.  But, there's pushing, in order to learn.

MikeDerby

@summer and @renoir, you flatter me greatly.  For me its about visual interest.  We are bombarded with images daily, millions of them.  Do any of them resonate?  What is the key?  I don't know, but sometimes a picture will speak to me and I am drawn to it.  If it passes the composition test I want to paint it.  Complexity never enters into it because with DMP, you are ever only placing a color and a value in a place.  The rest is time and patience and materials.
I am an amateur and paint only for fun and stress relief.  I have no other goals and no illusions about becoming a great artist.  But there is no reason I should not try and there is nothing preventing me from attempting the most extraordinary thing I can think of.

Summer

@PaulB ; " I'm drawn to complexity and detail, so that's what I like to paint.  But, there's pushing, in order to learn."  Very good answer.  @MikeDerby ; "Complexity never enters into it because with DMP, you are ever only placing a color and a value in a place.  The rest is time and patience and materials."  I'm really impressed with both of your responses.  I have a better perspective of the types of art you create and why.  It really fits with your personalities and the energy you both seem to have.  No more confusion.  Thank you.    Summer

MikeDerby

I am experimenting so the background has been painted three times.  I scraped the first two off.  The third looks better in person.  let me know what you think.  I am not so sure i won't scrape it off again.

Summer

I like the first one at the top, and the third one, as well.  I notice that you are using a grid and a large one at that.  You are so brave to work with grids that size!  I'd get lost! 

BOB73

I'm no expert but I worry that the values of the greens in the last one are off? Otherwise it is shaping up very well. What you've kept and done away with makes a very good composition.

MikeDerby

Thanks @summer and @bob73.  Its too saturated.  I have not been able to dull it down enough.  Look at the background, it is light, but muted.  really wierd.  i never painted a sky grey before 
Summer, the large grid is just to lay in the trees, and i have lost it now anyway.  I will have to wing it from here on.

Summer

@MikeDerby ; I'm sure you will wing it just fine.  That is what @EstherH told me she does where the lines intersect.  From my view, there is a lot less winging with a grid than without and that is what I am looking forward to.  Thumbs up!  Summer

MikeDerby

Here are two more progress pics.  I like the figure so far but the background is the pits and the rock garden is not so hot.  I do have plans to dress them up a bit before I finish.  We will see how it turns out.

Forgiveness

You will be better able to assess once the canvas is covered. This is coming along well and there is plenty of time before the challenge deadline.

MikeDerby

A little more. I glazed the background and it’s better. After it dries I will add the final foliage. 

MikeDerby

I couldn't fix it.  I doubt I will even give it to my sister.  The stretchers are good.  I can reuse them.
This is the second painting in the last year that I just botched.  I don't know where my head was at but nothing I did with the background worked.  The face eventually came around a little but it wasn't a good enough likeness to satisfy me.  The only consolation is that it was a mediocre photo.  It was cute, but it was not a good painting reference.
I hope I do a better job with the ballerina.  That face is even smaller.

PaulB

MikeDerby said:

This is the second painting in the last year that I just botched.  I don't know where my head was at but nothing I did with the background worked.

I have five of those in front of me, I don't know what causes that or when, it's never obvious at the time.  Bad reference is certainly one reason, but I also think not enough color checking, or just assuming I can do better than I really can, will ruin a project.  Some I don't even want to resurrect.

Slow and methodical, process-oriented seems to work reliably.  Any confidence, and blam!  Flat on face.

Summer

@MikeDerby ;  You have to keep at it because you and @PaulB have the one quality that is essential to paintings surviving.  You both paint LARGE!  Just in case you hadn't noticed! 

And, something I'll mention here but I hesitate in doing so because I hate it myself, is the benefit of painting preliminary small paintings first.  I'm forcing myself to do the same and my God it works!  I found so many thing in my last painting that I will never do again!  But even so, YOU BOTH PAINT LARGE!  That in itself is so great and so wonderful for your work to survive in generations to come.  Not taking anything away from very small paintings, because they also have their niche in the art world.

Just saying!

Summer 

Forgiveness

@MikeDerby, @PaulB, Is it not possible to do a second pass on these that don't turn out right in the 1st, 2nd layers? I understand it is possible, providing varnish has not yet been applied, this may be subject to the artist's discretion of course. This is a common challenge to many of us, and it is best to save a painting, if and where this is possible of course.

MikeDerby

there is just so much I want to paint and so little time that once I have worked up a piece, if it just doesn’t work, I want to move on more than I want to repaint it.
i do paint large.  I can hardly stand to do little stuff any more.  It’s so hard to miniturize with the level of precision that satisfies me.  Also, I have not copied a picture exactly since Miss Rice a year ago.  I take a lot of liberties and sometimes they fail.  I face a constant struggle to avoid cheese, corny, preciousness or convention, because, you know, I like that stuff too.  I just don’t want it in my art.  I am determined to never paint a moody pensive sulky girl.  There are thousands of them being done these days.

PaulB

I don't agree with "it is best to save a painting".  I have a lot of paintings on the go (11 today), and I work on whichever one interests me.  The ones that get no attention are usually that way for a reason.