I learned many things from my friend James Reynolds about painting. One of these was to set a painting aside and come back after some time, usually after the painting has had time to dry completely and is ready to be varnished. Before varnishing, set the painting up and critique the painting and make notes. When you have done this, go back to the easel with it and correct the questionable areas.
Now, as a person who makes his living from the paintings he makes, I don't always have the luxury of setting a painting aside for very long before it needs to go to a gallery or a show. I do wait awhile, after I think the painting is finished to critique it. I have found, for myself anyway, that the longer I separate myself from a painting before critiquing it, the better. Lately, I have had some health issues and computer problems, that made me wait a good amount of time before I could really look at and, if needed, correct areas of a painting.
When the original first came off the easel. I was comfortable with this piece, but about a week later I was questioning it. Several areas were bothering me. Particularly the Blue Bonnets and values in the foreground. I have tried different ways of painting these flowers, but have yet to find something I really like. This was one of the better efforts, but I was not really happy with them. I put the painting in my storage closet. Out of sight, out of mind.
A couple of months past and my computer crashed, and I do mean crashed. It had to be completely rebuilt, so to speak. I probably needed to buy a new one, but finances being as they were, well you get it. It is during this time without a computer that I truly realized what a time waster a computer can be. Yes it is a great asset for artists, but if not careful it is also a huge thief of one's time.
With my computer down, I was not able to access my reference material. OH NO! What do I do now? The answer was go back to what I did for years before computers came into my life. Come up with original compositions and do more plein air work! What a novel concept!!!
Problem was, it was winter. Not really cold, but a lot of rain and dreary days limited when I could get out to paint. One these days if I wasn't working on something new I had started in the field, I would go into my storage closet and pull older paintings and critique them. One of these paintings was this one.
Not only did the Blue Bonnets still bother me, so did the background
I reworked the Blue Bonnets. The photo does not show much change, but they are much softer and not as harsh along with more variation in the blues and purples. I also lightened the value of the grasses in the foreground. I cooled and softened the mid ground and background grasses. The background trees were completely changed and softened as was the sky. I am much more comfortable putting this painting out now. I feel it is more cohesive, softer, and conveys the original concept and feeling I wanted to show. Time to put it in a frame.
No comments:
Post a Comment