I knew this time I had to work with 1) Vertical + 2) Value + 3) Permanent Alizarin Crimson and it was difficult to get this to work - kept fiddling and it's still not right. Sandy says the mermaid in the bottom part is too much a right angle and it stops or cuts the flow there. Cropping it at a severe angle might help but I may just have to start over on this - or consider it a learning experience and move on. I should have thought out the composition more and spent less time painting and trying to get it to work :(
Oh, well...I still have to finish that little landscape painting, too. And after 4 hours working on this mermaid painting, I'm mentally exhausted and need a nap!
Sandy commented that I cut off too much on the left side on the previous showing of the painting - and she's right (I was trying to tilt it to crop it and did too much, I think).
So here's the original - see the white line through the left side? Well, I'm not going to tell you what I did when I got home but needless to say I have to redo this one or toss it now...I shouldn't make decisions when I'm tired and hungry. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow...
Hi Rhonda,
ReplyDeleteAnt chance you could post the whole painting? The left edge, at least, was cropped off.
Thanks.
Ooops, I was trying to tilt it and take the pic and must have cropped it more than I thought. Will take another pic and share it...
ReplyDeleteI love those right angle mermaids! The only confusing part of the composition to me is that same-colored shape between the two of them as the bottom mermaid, what is that? I must be missing something when I look at it, but it is not coming to me. This looks to have been fun to work on, but I know you were tired and hungry so it will be interesting to see what happens when all is right in your world.
ReplyDeleteSusan
Susan, I think that is the rope of seaweed going between them that you see. This just isn't a successful painting and I think I can do better next time in composition because the 2 mermaids just seem misplaced. I always appreciate you taking a look and your comments!
ReplyDeleteI have to give you credit for being truly creative here. The mermaid idea is perfect! What I find confusing, and maybe that's what Susan is looking at too, is the red/purple triangle shape made by the upper mermaid's hair. I think you would have been better off having it flow similar to the darker haired mermaid. Hindsight is 20/20 - especially when it isn't my painting. :-)
ReplyDeleteYou're 100% right, Michelle (and you, too Susan, if that was what you were looking at that didn't read right) - that block of hair is wrong wrong wrong. I needed to plan this out before I ever put pencil to paper - and I needed to do a value study as part of the plan. So goals for 2008 = more planning and value studies before painting - it can only help!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michelle, I don't know why I wasn't more specific about describing the shape of the object when I said it was confusing me, but then I did say I was confused! Happens a lot lately. But, Rhonda, that was the part that wasn't reading right to me. Isn't it something that we can't see those things ourselves when working on a painting? It happens to me all the time.
ReplyDeleteI'll be interested in seeing how you fix this or if you redo it some time. Sometimes I just say "lesson learned" and go on to something else. Not very disciplined, huh?
After giving this a day without my even looking at it, I think I'm ready to try again to resolve the problems I created by not planning my work better this time :) Yep, Sandy, I'm an otter - rushing right in with a vague idea and then deciding to just go off and play in the water when things don't work out :)
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