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A bit of advice needed please.
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Message
Posted
Alan or Robert could you give me some advice on my oil painting I've been working on recently, there's a lot of cold looking green/blue in my painting and although the image is of a frosty morning, I am not sure whether to add some warm tones to the background or leave it as it is. Also I have a limited palette of Alizarin Crimson, Phthalo green/blue shade, French Ultramarine, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow and Titanium White. I want to add some more to my colours and could you suggest some shades that would be useful.
Posted
A few not very structured thoughts - Alizarin Crimson, which is a very useful pigment in so many ways, isn't, unfortunately, very lightfast. If it's PR83, it's best avoided, especially in tints with white. There is a permanent Alizarin Crimson - though it's not THAT permanent. I'd try a Quinacridone magenta, or violet, or red - sometimes called Permanent Rose - which varies quite a bit between makers but is essentially much more lightfast than PR83.
Pthalo green is an intensely strong colour, which can migrate into others and rapidly overtake a painting: on the other hand, it works very well, as does Viridian (which I prefer) with the Quinacridone reds - it makes beautiful greys, if added carefully to white: 'carefully', because it also makes a chromatic (and interesting) black. Warming up a frosty painting is certainly possible - touches of pink and orange in the white can help with that - but in this picture, your very definite centre of interest is the stag - and he needs to dominate not only in terms of size and focus, but also by being the best painted part of the picture.
To that end you can: a) warm up the browns of his coat a bit: maybe with a touch of Burnt Sienna, Mars Red (a useful dullish red-brown which can work well in fur and hair), Light Red, Indian Red, or Venetian Red. I'd be tempted to vary the tones a little bit more - have some deeper ones, and some lighter ones reflecting the white of the snow/frost; b) refine the drawing - I know you've not finished that yet - particularly around the mouth area, and the antlers; touches of dark and light in the branches of the antlers, and rather more definition to the shapes of the antlers, and of the mouth: always a good idea to get several pictures of an animal (even better if you can go and study one) because a single photo can be very misleading. A bit more shape to the exposed ear, and perhaps a pinkish touch towards its depths - I'm reluctant to go any further than that because - I don't have a deer to hand! But I suspect a little more study of your source, in these areas, would repay your efforts.
It would matter much less what you did with the surrounding areas if you could strengthen the focal point - you could suggest a lot without (unless you want to) getting very detailed with twigs and frosty branches. One thing I would NOT do is add any more Pthalo Green - it's OK at the moment, I think, but even a little bit more would risk it taking over. You could certainly mix it with your crimson/violet, though, to make the darks I think you need in places, on the animal itself. Just not on its own.
(The late Syd Edward, of blessed memory, really, really hated both Pthalo Green and Viridian - and used on their own, they can indeed be a problem: but they're great mixers - really useful, with your reds, earth reds, and yellows.)
Having said all that, I should hang on for Alan's advice - he's a better colourist than I am, and less hidebound!
Posted
Thank you Robert for your advice on colours and their different abilities for mixing, every thing you have said will be taken on board and made a note of. As to the stag, these were my underlying colours and I know that everything wants more defining but your colour advice to brighten him up and make him more dominant in the painting is also being noted. Thanks for your time, its really appreciated, Linda
Posted
Right then Linda, I’ll keep this brief, as you have a lot to digest from Robert.
The stag: yes it’s still a WIP so I won’t dwell. A useful colour to consider is transparent red oxide, vibrant and intense, that would work well here.
The background: I’m reasonably happy with it! In fact I wouldn’t do an awful lot to it.
The issue here is the foreground. It’s too similar in both tone and colour to the background. In fact it’s virtually identical, and you need to bring it forward, which will improve the painting immensely. It doesn’t look realistic or convincing. Not that we’re after realistic of course, but it needs lifting.
So, this is the difficult bit! It’s going to be a matter of trial and error!
There are still warm colours around in winter, subdued one’s of course, but with a warm bias.
Without getting into detail, strengthen the darkest areas of the foliage, raw umber and ultramarine could work, experiment is needed here.
What you are aiming for, is a cohesion throughout the painting, but with different tones, darkest areas in the foreground, introduce some of the stag colours into the stems of the foliage etc. The stag does need to blend in with areas of foliage, not stand out like an isolated object.
I could go on, but you should have enough info here from both of us to either completely lose the will to carry on, or hopefully something to experiment with!
Posted
Ha ha I think I've lost the will to live, no seriously there is a lot to digest, I will make note of colours you and Robert have suggested and areas that need to be addressed, I'm in not in any hurry to finish my painting, I need to get some more paints then I will take my time and like you say it will be a matter of trial an error. Thank you for your time and by the way I will follow your postings of your work on the forum and pick up some valuable tips, Linda
Posted
Tee hee - don't be intimidated by us, neither of us would want that.
Just take your time - breathe - absorb as much of the advice as you like! Stopping and thinking is always good. I completely agree about integrating your subject into the painting - that's a very useful thought: think of your painting as a whole, not individual parts.
Posted
Well I have experimented with this, I have tried to take in some of the advice you have both given me, I did add a little pink to the frosty bits Robert but they don't show up much on my photo. Alan I have tried to blend the stag in with the undergrowth and hopefully given it a bit more definition with colour also darkened the foreground foliage a bit. I really don't mind how much you criticise, i'm thick skinned enough to take it, thanks for your tips and advice.
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