Small gifts, Not my best works....

toujours

Did these recently as gifts for someone.   7"x5".

The 1st 2 did not turn out as I imagined them.   I think, perhaps. all the angles and glass were beyond my capabilities.  I did work on them a bit more after the photos were taken and darkened the hues on the top balcony walls to make the small sunlight slithers more distinctive.
The recipient is happy with photos, but may not like the real thing as much when the post arrives!



I was happier with the next 2.   Slightly different angles of the same roofline.





I don't like it when there is a disconnect with how you imagine a painting, and how it actually turns out.   I prefer the ones that happen just as you pictured them!  I find sometimes a painting of mine is good, and other ones (like these first 2) look very amateurish.    Anyone else have this problem?

tassieguy

That happens to me, too, @toujours. I tell myself that not every painting can be a masterpiece. 

I agree that the second pair with the roofline and chimney are better. But no. 2 - the interior with the arched windows - is also interesting. 

GTO

I like your choice of architecture in these.  They have a lot of interesting angles.
When you say they look amateurish you have to be more specific or you will not be able to correct yourself. (Since I can’t see what you first envisioned). 

It can only be a few things; is it the composition?  Scale? design, lighting? etc.  
Is it the color or value?  Is it the transitions in color or value?  Is it the edges or abstraction textures?  

If you are looking for a “cleaner” edge should you try painting on panels, or add more coats of gesso smoothed out?
I’m just brainstorming here to offer some suggestions.

Richard_P

If you want to post the source photos for the first two paintings I can have a look and see what I think compared to the paintings.

toujours

Thanks for your replies, @tassieguy, @GTO, and @Richard_P.  Much appreciated.  

I have posted the photos I worked from.    They were all I had and am unable to take more since it is in another country
@GTO, you are correct over the surface.   I cursed the cheap canvas on board the whole time, but wanted to use up existing resources and they have been hanging around unused for years.  I did not think of filling it in with gesso,    Point taken!

@Richard_P, as requested.   Sorry I did not think to post them last night.

Richard_P

Thank you. It's late here, but I'll try to look at these in the next few days.

toujours

Richard_P said:

Thank you. It's late here, but I'll try to look at these in the next few days.

Thank you for your time and advice in advance. 

Richard_P

I had a go at looking at the first one for you. For something like this where it's a lot of angles and you feel it's beyond your capabilities I would suggest tracing them to make sure they are ok

toujours

That is so very helpful, @Richard_P.  I can easily see now where I have gone wrong.   It is so obvious I feel like kicking myself I did not notice.  I might hold off posting it overseas and work on it after my eye heals.
I am really very grateful.

tassieguy

Absolutely on point and really helpful comments, @Richard_P.  How did you do all that? Did you use Affinity Photo? 

In terms of giving good critique, this is a great demonstration of how helpful it is to post both the reference and the painting. 

Richard_P

Thanks both. I just used Paint.NET for this to shrink and adjust the original photo and then paste it next to the source image. It's easy to add lines and text in there too.

toujours

Richard_P said:

Thanks both. I just used Paint.NET for this to shrink and adjust the original photo and then paste it next to the source image. It's easy to add lines and text in there too.

Is Paint NET an app you buy from the play store, or a free app?
I am not au fait with buying, downloading or using apps.   I have heard of photoshop, but never used it and have only ever used the paint app that came with my computer when I bought it.

How does one go about installing Paint NET?  It looks to be very useful.  Thanks.

tassieguy

It's easy, @toujours. I downloaded it last night. Just go to https://www.getpaint.net/ to download the free version. All the advertising on that page makes it a bit confusing but once at getpaint.net you're given a choice of whether to download it from the Microsoft store or from dotPDN. The free version is at dotPDN. It comes in a ZIP file which you'll need to open after download to start the installation.  Maybe wait until your vision is better. 

If you want an image editor equal to Photoshop or Affinity Photo you could get GIMP. I use this often. It's free and does just about everything the others do. You an get GIMP here: https://www.gimp.org/  

toujours

@Richard_P, thank you for that information.   I will do as you suggest and wait till my vision is improved.  Much appreciated.

Richard_P

Yes, it's free for Windows. It's much more powerful than the Paint program you get with Windows, but not as complicated as Affinity or GIMP.