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Symbolic WIP
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Message
Posted
This is a minefield Lew, one that I am well aware of but don't necessarily have the experience to make 100% good on.
In actual fact there are multiple light sources, the light reflecting on the wall in the background (white circle) is from a light source above in the room at the end of the tunnel directly in line with the viewer (I suppose the floor is the only give away that there is space there) there is also another light source above the viewpoint.
When I took the photo of myself the light was from multiple sources so I don't have such heavy shadows, and when I paint in the figure I won't do it much differently but perhaps strengthen the highlights a bit on my back (I know that my face should be in shadow but I won't make these too heavy)
As we move across the painting the shadows go from straight down to falling to the right (the imagined intersection of which is where the light would be) and some secondary shadows from the light at the end of the tunnel (not an intended metaphor) Objects like the rose and the hourglass were not there so their shadows and highlights have to be imagined.
Thanks for drawing my attention back to the issue again Lew, I do feel it is of much importance to try and get such things correct if this is to work.
Posted
Don't burden yourself with the 100% malarky, nobody achieves that. Clearly you can have multiple light sources. I just thought it worth mentioning at this early stage. The toughest part will be the figure...looking great so far, well drawn and the blocking in you've done looks just fine. Also the work you've done on the tunnels at the back have given greater depth to the image. Assembling a painting like this is hard to do, but also, I think, the most interesting...far more that just a straight copy of an image (which is also difficult). It's going well.
I don't know how much more I will do, it feels like an underpainting for an oil painting to me, I am not feeling particularly satisfied with it at present. I think I will look at it for a day or two and decide whether I will redo anything and what (if anything) I should work further on. 
Posted
You say you're not particularly satisfied with it at the moment...I think we all recognize that feeling. I feel it mostly strongly with pictures that are mostly imagination (as yours is), the results can never match the idea you had in your head before you started. I think it's looking good. The light on the figure's shoulders have resolved the issue with light source. Whilst it does no harm to step away for a few days, I think you should be pleased with your work.
Posted
Thanks Lew.
I think I like the composition, and that it is among the more interesting paintings I have created but I imagine in oils and I work in acrylic and for all the things I like about acrylic they have limitations.
I darkened the floor in the background, as Splosh said the brightness was coming forwards but of all the elements I think the floor and ceiling are the ones I am not blown away by. Still I think I have probably taken too much time on this as it is so I am just going to post it to the gallery and move on for the time being. I can always come back to it later.
Posted
Hello, when I was commenting on watercolour, I realised that I had forgotten to say about this painting, that many artists believe that it is best to paint the background first. Indeed I have often made the mistake of painting the subject first as I am impatient and keen to get to the guts of the picture. If you paint the subject first it is hard to get the background right. If you paint the background first then you know that the subject needs to have more contrast and stand out from the back ground. (Background cooler, Foreground warmer)
I think that the walkway is no a lot better, but the flesh tones are too much like the dungeon/cave colours. The barrel is brilliant, but it's sharpness and colour does not sit behind the man. Best to leave it a while and revisit it with fresh eyes. Try looking at it in a mirror. Looking at a thumbnail size image usually points out what you need to fix ( its quicker that trying to find somewhere to step away 10 metres).
All painting are a series of problems to solve to for me, which is the challenge I like.
Posted
I see the truth in your observations, every part of this painting is brown almost... I changed the colour of the back wall to create maximum contrast against the head and cooler to throw it backwards, but I didn't like to do the walls all this colour... the sandstone or whatever on the floor was also a questionable colour choice and the whole painting has less darkness than I envisioned (it would take bravery to make everything so dark that the details can hardly be made out)
It was a learning experience which I wasn't very satisfied with so as I say maybe I will oil paint over it one day, I could see myself doing that to quite a few of these early experiments.
Posted
What I like about it is the courage you've shown in taking on a difficult subject - you can always find something to worry about in any large, experimental painting, but one of the good things about acrylics is that you can put this away and come back to it weeks, months, years later, and work on it again, when you've been able to see it more objectively.
I tend to keep my stuff, good (I hope), bad (I hope not), or indifferent (too often) - it gives me a measure to judge myself against. There have even been occasions, if not many, when I've looked at an old painting and thought 'how the Hell did I do that?'.
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