Skip to main content

What I Have Learned - Pleased to Meet You



From 2005, a gallery stretched painting titled "Pleased to Meet You (Introductions)," a lifesized portrait (20" x 18") of three labs. 

All week long, I've been sharing older paintings, talking about what I would do differently today. It's been a great process - really reminding me that, despite my own feelings that I don't know much about painting, I actually do know quite a bit more than I did just a few short years ago.

Today's painting, well, if I were to tackle this one again, I simply would choose not to paint it at all. The composition is so bad. The idea is fantastic, but I allowed myself to fall in love with the idea instead of the execution. That's impetuousness for you!

But I'll critique it anyway:

1. Compositionally, there is a nice central point, but the yellow dog's head is a tough read, and the chocolate's front leg is awkwardly cropped. Furthermore, the black dog's back mimics the chocolate dog's head and neck - it's hard to look at anything else. There are so many other ways I could have approached this concept, but instead I painted the photo as it was, and stifled my artistic license altogether.

 
2. Modeling form by only changing the value of color is a beginner's mistake. It's also the hallmark of relying too much on a photo reference. 'Nuff said.

 
3. There is no light source, which makes the forms float oddly in the picture plane. The dogs need to be anchored with shadows and a light source. Again, allowing the photo to direct my decision making. Not a good choice.

 
4. The edgework here is uniformly crisp. I know, super boring, right? loosen up and lose some of those edges and create interest in how the form is depicted.

 
5. I haven't talked at all this week about embracing materials, but this painting seems to be a good example of NOT doing that. It's very flat and smooth and bears little trace of brushstrokes. Don't get me wrong - I have the utmost respect for photorealist artists and how they manage to create a super smooth surface, but that just doesn't move or engage me like juicy brushwork. Create a gorgeous rendering that breathes, and then remind me somewhere, in either your gesture or your surface, that it's just paint. Allow me to see your hand, and that gives me a window to your thoughts, and hence an emotional connection to your work.

I'm off to my easel now to practice what I preach. Feel free to join me!

Thanks, as always, for following along with my artwork,
Kim
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“Katie’s Moustache,” 6x12, pet portrait in acrylic on canvasboard, $90. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com . One glimpse of Katie’s face, and I was hooked. Not only did she fall into my beloved “black & white” category, but she came with a full moustache and doe-like eyes. I first covered the canvas with a variety of blues and purples, using a (mixed) light green and pink for the highlights. (Right now my palette has been expanded to include the following: pthalo blue red, azurite hue, cad red dark, alizarine crimson, cad yellow dark, and then for graying/hazing out I use light green yellow and ultramarine purple.) I lighten with titanium white and darken with one of the blues and a touch of one of the reds. As a side note, at this time last year I was really struggling with my limited palette (I went from about 60 pots of paint to 3), but I have lived the benefits – I am so much more familiar with what I can mix given just this handful of colors. My paintings are also m...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dear Copyright Thieves

Dear Copyright Thieves,   Just because it's on the internet doesn't mean it's free for the taking. So let's just stop pretending the internet is a free-for-all.   Don't play the card that you didn't know - that's insulting. And don't also tell me that you meant to follow up and get permission but never got a chance to. That's insulting too. And by the way, don't you have a copyright protection notice on your own site?   And don't even try and point the finger at a third party who commissioned you to make a copy of my painting - again, an insult - you and I both know the difference between a reference photo and a painting.   And don't tell me that I asked for it because I share my artwork on the internet. I share my paintings and ideas and the stories behind them so as to encourage others to pursue  their own passions . I do not share so that those lacking integrity and morals can copy and market the images as their own...
33 comments
Read more

Golden Open Acrylics

I get all sorts of process oriented questions. Most recently I've been getting asked a lot about my paints and palette, which made me realize what a nice blog topic this would make! I use a Masterson Sta-Wet Premier palette box . This is comprised of a box (think Tupperware) with a sponge liner and a slice of palette paper that work together to keep my paints wet. This setup allows me to work with the same palette for about a full week, having the box open for multiple hours every day. You can see what the palette looks like at the beginning of a new session above - below the exact same palette after this week's work. For the last 25 years I have used Golden brand acrylics, mediums, and varnish. I love the overall quality of these paints and the fact that, when I have a question, their customer service department is made up of artists who actually use the products. Until last year, I used their Heavy Body paints exclusively. They have a buttery consistency, a little loose...
11 comments
Read more