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Trying to make my mind up...
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Message
Posted
Daveyboyz. your black and white is good. Take your own pictures, look at the shapes, colours and shadows within it. Whether its A2 or A5, what you do is yours, and yours alone, no copyright issues. I'm sure you will compose an individual image to be proud of.
When starting out on the art trail it is good to learn and take inspiration from those who know about a specific medium, and how to use it, but be brave, do your own thing... do not walk in someone else's shadow.
Posted
Interesting black and white technique. I like it. Matisse used cut outs too. You know what they say - "There is nothing new under the sun!" This is one of the reasons why copyright is so complicated. I forgot to say that you need to be careful to observe the copyright laws of the country that you are in predominantly. Using other images from other countries is another nightmare!
I have been going to portraiture classes on and off over the last 5 years and now I think I an get a good likeness in colour in pastels and pastel pencils in 20 minutes. How I got to this point is through my tutor who makes the class do lots of very quick sketches e.g. 5 minutes, 3 minutes, 1 minute. she does this with the life class too. Anyone can do this in a cafe or at a bus stop or on a train, without paying a model. I've not resorted to it yet, but there is also the face that stares back at you from the mirror each morning.
Posted
I've read through most of this thread - which took on a life of its own. Just one thing I'd want to say to Daveboyz - when you're starting out, just flaming well paint: yes, I quite agree about inspiration, but that's not what you're short of: selection is your big issue. And - same here.
Moreover - some of us are limited in what we can realistically do; eg, I don't have a dedicated studio; I can't get out to paint en plein air; you're limited in experience, in time, and perhaps in available space - we work within these boundaries as best we can, to satisfy ourselves as best we can, and to improve. That, I judge, is what you're doing. You're very good at acknowledging the advice you receive, but I have the strong impression you're going to do what you're going to do, and as that is the route I took - I commend it!
This is not said to undermine or criticize any of the advice you've received here - all of which is good. But as Sylvia said - Go, Davey, go! The above is looking good, so press on regardless.
Posted
I shouldn't imaging you would want to paint things you don't want to even look at, Daveyboyz, but as you say the world if full of amazing things, then paint what you can see, something you as an individual views in a different way. Just look that little bit closer, some of the smallest life on our planet, close up, has an intricate beauty, things that don't have to be painted small because they are. Shadow can present wonderful abstraction even with the 'not so handsome'
You don't need big or famous icons for your paintings to be of interest :)
You don't need big or famous icons for your paintings to be of interest :)
Edited
by carol
Posted
The original question was interesting. What to paint. Sometimes I think I *ought* to paint certain things to develop my skills in specific areas then I think, Nah. Life's too short. My skills will develop anyway regardless, just slower. So I paint what inspires me.
When I saw that Redcliffe wharf I knew I wanted to paint it...i will sketch certain aspects many times to get the best result I can, but in the end I'll paint it anyway.
As for choosing what to paint, well...thats a conversation that could run and run but ultimately it's a bit like someone saying *im bored, there's nothing to do*. Maybe you shouldn't paint at all...get out and go for a walk or bike ride, forget the brushes. Let the muse return when she does. Failing that, if you must paint but can't choose...a coin toss is as good as any.
I like your Munro though. A good start and a nice image I think. You're wise to copy to start with, or I think so Anyway, but don't do it too much. I've reached the stage where I copy less and less. My last copy was of the ketch Irene but I did that for a specific reason amd I changed the boat anyway. I try to just copy real life now... The trouble with copying is although you can copy * how * the artist painted you can't copy *why*, so you'll always be lacking one vital ingredient.
If I might make one teeny point...daveboyz, your comments on taking or chucking away advice were a little harsh at the corners. I fully appreciate the sentiment, amd I'm sure we all agree, it's just how it was said. A bit hard nosed. Might make certain people less inclined to offer words of wisdom next time. Thats all. Social graces and all that.
Good luck with Munro and enjoy the paints.
David (no great time at the easel and a great lack of skill to.prove it!)
Posted
I think that when a question is posed, pretty well all of us on here will do their best to help. It is inevitable that things may stray slightly off topic but all put forward in good faith. I will also say that there has been a good response, constructive at times, passionate as always as most of us are about all things relative to painting.
We inevitably won't all give the answers that you want to hear, that's because we don't know what you want to hear, so we all tend to relate our own individual experiences and ideas, in the hope that something may strike a chord perhaps, and if not, well it doesn't matter if you discard all of it. There is a wealth of experience on this forum, some have had professional training, many have started off at grass roots level and gathered experience as they have progressed, books can be a useful aid of course as well as the ever increasing interest in online video's, but seeking guidance from others along the way can never be discarded in my opinion.
Posted
Some books are worth having, some aren't - I always regret selling some of mine, particularly one by the late Norman Battershill: and the web is not a substitute for me, although it is much more easily updated of course.
But this is an aside - I wanted to comment on Daveyboyz's use of green underpainting in portraiture: yes, it absolutely is what many of the old masters did; they tended to use a version of terre verte, a very low-tinting green; in acrylic you can't get terre verte, but dulled down pthalo green or oxide of chromium works quite well; glazing over that with the flesh tones makes them cooler - although you might have to employ a bit of jiggery-pokery to get it right. The green would usually have been mixed with a white paint, to achieve blending - in oil, that would have been one of the lead whites back then - which avoids very hard lines showing through.
On the question of verbal tone, DavidG4YVM, I think Daveyboyz was picking up a remark I made and taking it to its logical conclusion - you can appreciate advice, but you don't always have to take it, and if you do you might never learn to go your own way. I don't think he was being aggressive - more responding to several points and indicating that he does have the intelligence and independence to discriminate between technical advice and more general opinions about painting choices; which is all to the good so far as I'm concerned. But it's always hard to judge tone when you can't see the whites of others' eyes (or the occasional red flush...).
Edited
by RobertJones
Posted
The phrase I used was directly the advice of Bruce Lee when talking about the various different martial arts... you take what is useful from any given one and discard the rest. This is absolutely a good strategy for communicating with people. You take the view that everyone else knows something useful to you, and you try to listen for it... most of what people tell you you may already know, or may simply reject but you should still listen and take the useful bits of what they say.
Regardless I still learned a fair amount from doing MM. Its the first figurative piece I have done at A2 scale and it feels completely different not being able to take in the whole image at once when working on it (because you are too close) when I stood back I realized one eye was in the wrong place and I had to move it, I couldn't see it when I was close up. Working with acrylics over such a large area they are dry by the time you come back so blending is tricky but over large area feathering them I think your eye blends them from distance. Anyway, as soon as I got a few hours to actually go at it it came together quickly.
Posted
Yes, I agree Margaret it is nice, but there's no 'wow' factor because its been done before. It doesn't project the artists individualism.
Daveyboyz wont care about that, I'm sure, and rightly so, he just likes to paint I expect.. Like many hobby artists the subject and the singular image is irrelevant.
Paint on and be happy :)