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Two versions of Snowy Day
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Message
Posted
I would appreciate critique about Snowy Day. The friends who saw the original version didn't like the wall which they said was too prominent. As I agreed I re-worked the painting to get rid of it, hence the final version. I prefer it without the wall but don't think it is good enough to go on the Gallery, however I'd better not mess with it any more. I'd be interested in other people's opinion though. Thank-you.
Posted
The colours are rather warm for a snowy day, especially the red areal. The lake is perhaps too blue. Usually if it's been snowing the clouds will be a dull grey and the lake will reflect the colour of the sky.
The perspectives seem distorted - the big red area in the middleground looks nearer than the red in the foreground. The curve of the red area is so prominent that it's directing the viewer's eye away from the centre of the picture.
I would have another go at doing a quick painting of the scene, but realistic rather than semi abstract. This might give you more ideas to work on. I think the first painting is the best.
Posted
<div>Like Syd, I must confess to also being more than a little confused with the composition on the second painting, the first one is more recognisable as a landscape Sandra. I do like the colours actually although they don't necessarily depict winter colours as Keora has said but I can live with that.
The main problem as I see it is that the initial idea was a bit weak as far as composition is concerned, you need to put aside more thinking and sketching time and you will definitely see results, your actual technique is encouraging.
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Posted
If you are thinking of doing another one, I suggest that you get out into the countryside and look at the real thing, e.g. the colour of the water, the colour of the, hills/mountains and the colour of the wall. I don't know where you live, but in Devon, the country walls are all built of granite - grey, with lichen and moss growing on it, so grey and green. If you do not have time to do a colour sketch, then a photo will help. Best of luck.
Posted
I think others have covered just about everything I'd have wanted to say - all I would add is that allied to pre-planning so you get the composition right, you could do with much more tonal contrast: the tones in your painting are all too close together, which makes it more difficult to tell, in short, what's what. You've got what I sometimes get when I work under artificial light - too much dependency on colour, rather than tone, to define objects.
You CAN use colour in place of tone, as the Fauvists did, but you've got to be really good to pull that off. As Splosh and Alan advise, getting out in the open air will help a lot here, because except on the greyest of days and at twilight, there are shadows and contrasts which help enormously at telling you what you're looking at and enabling you to convey that to the viewer.
Keep up the practice - take advantage of the sunshine while we've still got some, and get out into the countryside or town with your camera and sketchbook, even if you physically can't paint on the spot (which I can't, but I manage with those and work in the relative comfort of home). Establish your lightest lights, and your darkest darks, then work on the gradations between the two - and always identify your light-source: that does more than anything else to give you a convincing picture if you're working representationally. Abstracts are a bit different, but still require a good tonal range on the whole - a semi-abstract incorporating elements of realism still needs this awareness of light; a total abstract can depend more on subtle colour changes .... but that's a whole subject in itself.
http://www.isleofwightlandscapes.net
http://www.wightpaint.blogspot.co.uk