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Message
Hi folks, I struggled a bit with this one. Comments invited - the good, the bad and the ugly! I think I like my flower on the right, but there is so much about this painting I am not sure about. It is acrylic on board.
Thank you
Posted
I think the only weakness is the shape of the vase, which isn't very symmetrical: just study the shape of the forms rather more and re-define it; acrylic allows you to do that.
Also, maybe the dark green leaf or shoot leading out of the painting is going for a bit of a walk on its own; the blooms need to dominate the vase and make the outgrowths incidental: the stalks in the water aren't too attractive and are competing with them.
http://www.isleofwightlandscapes.net
http://www.wightpaint.blogspot.co.uk
Posted
Dear Dawn,
I think the biggest trouble with this is the indistinctiveness of the background. The vase and the flowers are both very well painted. However where an object is, is important and will give more structure and composition to the whole painting. I would suggest that at least you could add the surface upon which the vase is standing, use a darker colour, it'll make it look less as if it's floating in midair.
Hope this helps.
John
Posted
A little bit of shadow under the flowers on your vase , a stroke of a shadow on the floor? and just under the base of the pot, and always, a few shed petals lying about on the floor,, a more distinct waterline ,with the water area just a touch of colour ,,(maybe a bottle green tint,,,) a warm background ,a little less heavy ,so it won't distract from the vase of flowers .another little trick i use is ,I make any leaves and branches.sticking out .droop a little
the makings of a nice group of flowers with very little to change . I would say very good work ,excellent.have hug
Posted
I agree with Alan. Some shadow under the vase would give it 3 dimensions. This will also indicate from which direction the light is coming from. Once this is established I like to see some reflection in a glass vase of the light source. Hopefully this would give us something to look at in the bottom half of the painting. It is coming on well though.
Posted
I'm afraid your choice of a transparent glass container for your flowers was bound to be a source of trouble. A stoneware vase would have made life a lot easier. You would not have to struggle with flower stalks and complicated reflections.
I've attached a possible alternative. It is a stoneware pot from Bernard Leach Pottery in St Ives. You could arrange for flowers to be painted over the lid. Then those lovely textures created by the glaze have an earthy feel in harmony with the subject.
The flower heads are beautifully painted.
Edited
by robK2
Posted
We've all been here - to start with, the vase and the stalks competed with the top part of the painting; then you tried to relegate them to a secondary role, by adding some opaque touches to conceal the intrusive stalks.
But you had the same problem, really - the bottom half of the painting, whatever you did with it, still competed too much with the top, because the painting is basically split in two. And that's the problem ..... I think it would help if you shortened the length of the vase, and indicated a shadow beneath it, as people have suggested.
Let me be quite honest - others may disagree - I would leave this as an interesting and attractive experiment. You have improved it as far as it can be improved, but I think I would now try other approaches, giving the bulk of your attention to the blooms, which, however attractive it is, are always going to be more powerful than their container: you need to concentrate on these, allowing the vase or bowl to serve them in a secondary capacity. In short - you'll have learned a lot from this one, and in your place I'd now lay it to one side and start a new painting, taking advantage from what you've discovered.
I've just seen RobK2's reply, and agree with it on the whole - I think it points out the basic problem, which is the competition between the vase/pot and the blooms, confusing the eye by giving almost equal prominence to each.
http://www.isleofwightlandscapes.net
http://www.wightpaint.blogspot.co.uk
Edited
by RobertJones
Posted
That is, by the way, a fantastically gorgeous pot - and I wish I owned it.
http://www.isleofwightlandscapes.net
http://www.wightpaint.blogspot.co.uk
