There's a point in your painting when you need to step back and assess where your painting is going. This is when your painting starts to "speak" to you to tell you what it needs.
So I took a picture of my painting Cenote Entrance, to help me see what is going on with this piece. I use several techniques to help see issues with my painting, such as taking a photo, turning the piece sideways or upside down, or viewing the piece in a mirror.
So I took a picture of my painting Cenote Entrance, to help me see what is going on with this piece. I use several techniques to help see issues with my painting, such as taking a photo, turning the piece sideways or upside down, or viewing the piece in a mirror.
So from this photo, I can see a couple of problems. Taking the photo and making it black and white, I can see that the tree trunk virtually disappears into the background. This indicates that there isn't enough value change between the fore ground and background. I also see a nondescript dark 'blob' to the right of the tree trunk. Then I see a very strong diagonal of light values from the lower right corner of the painting to the tree trunk. From the original color picture (above) I can see that the background colors are too warm and the background moves into the fore ground in places.
If I intended for these items to be in the painting then I would leave them. But seeing as they are unintended and not adding to the painting in a positive way (always leave room for happy accidents), I need to work on these areas.
If I intended for these items to be in the painting then I would leave them. But seeing as they are unintended and not adding to the painting in a positive way (always leave room for happy accidents), I need to work on these areas.
With a little more work on the piece, I tried to fix the issues described. In the finished piece (below), I 'cooled' down the background so that it sits back and the bush beside the tree can be distinguished. More values were placed in the tree trunk and branches, as well as additional colors, to make it more visually interesting. I made the branches less straight and more 'tree-like' too. The edge of the cenote (at the lower right) was made more curved and the light values darkened at the corner to keep the eye from being directed right out of the piece. I also added shadows from part of the fence in this light value area to break it up a bit. The dark blob was toned down and I did some additional color work in the ground area between the tree and background.
I will let this painting sit for a bit a look at it as I go about my daily business. Sometimes I can see other issues in a painting as a glance at it when walking by. So I prop paintings up on my book cases or in the dining room so these opportunities to glance at it occur more frequently and when my mind is typically occupied with thoughts other than painting.
How do you critique your paintings or other artistic works? Please drop me a line about your techniques.
How do you critique your paintings or other artistic works? Please drop me a line about your techniques.