Friday, January 7, 2011

Fuschias -Completed for now

I have completed my Fuschias painting at least for the time being. As I am looking at the photo that I have taken, I see the need for some adjustments: for example, the horizontal stems at the center top portion are too light and are distracting.

What do I like about this painting or what did I enjoy about the process:
- I like the addition of the colors in the leaves.
-I really enjoyed working one petal at a time
-I enjoyed applying glazes on the petals - I am becoming more comfortable doing this.

What do I still find difficult:
- leaves and greens are not my strength

What do I want to work on:
- putting in a very dark and solid background is probably the easy way out
. I want to work on dark backgrounds that show more of a glow around the main subject

Remaining questions:
- is this painting too busy?
- are the highlights too distracting?
- are the colors clean enough especially in the large leaves? Should I have tried to apply more sections in one dark brushstroke rather than with so much layering?

I am looking forward to reading your thoughts about this.
I will eventually post for purchase it in my Artist International Gallery

20 comments:

  1. I enjoy glazing - I believe it gives more depth to the painting.
    Greens - I like mixing my own rather than tube colors - or add another color to a tube green (my favorites right out of the tube are Daniel Smith rich green gold, olive and jadeite).
    Not too busy; tone down some highligts on right side to make focus on the left flowers.
    Your question about the leaves - one stroke vs. glazing is just an artist choice - I'm not good at getting things in one stroke, but some are able to tell it all that way.
    As far as "clean" - learn about your paints to keep your colors clean while glazing.
    Hope some of this helps - your paintings are excellent.

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  2. Thanks Deb for taking the time to answer my questions and to comment.

    Since the DS colors are not available locally, I have tried very few of them. I should probably order a few tubes.

    I enjoy glazing more and more as I am getting better at it:-)

    I will try to tone some of the highlights on the right side. Thank you for lending me "a fresh eye".

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  3. I didn't even notice those horizontal stems. I think they're fine. I admire the contrast of lightness to darkness. It's very good!

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  4. Thank you, Katherine, for your comment. Your current painting showing a piece of knitting is simply incredible! Wow!

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  5. The painting is lovely, Christiane. I don't think it's too busy and I like Deb's suggestion of focusing the eye on the left by toning down some of the highlights on the right - that left bud really glows. You look to be a master at glazing and it does provide a lovely glow.

    You might enjoy checking out the website of a friend of mine, Jane Kwant. Like you, she does lovely florals and she spends many hours creating a beautiful surface quality: http://www.janekwant.com

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  6. I am taking the time to go through your posts .. and enjoying it so much. The subject is beautiful and you've captured it..

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  7. I love this one and think the leaves are as beautiful as the flowers. I am not a watercolor painter so can't tell you much except that this is lovely and the colors are beyond that! So good!

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  8. Hey
    Christiane thankyou for taking the time to share your critique of this with us. I agree about the lines and see what you mean. I like the addition of color in your leaves. I find green challenging too. Your glazing is well done. I know what you mean when you talk about dark bgs that glow. This is beautiful so bravo.

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  9. Christiane you did a good self critique and then Deb added some polish. This is a good painting. I think you did a great job on the leaves.

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  10. Mary, the work of your friend Jane Kwant is amazing! I will now be a frequent visitor to her website!Thank you.

    Barbra Joan, I am glad that you like the posts. Thank you for dropping by and taking the time to comment!

    Kathy, you are too kind!

    Nora, I will work on those two horizontal stems. It's interesting that, as soon as we look at our work on the computer, we notice imperfections that we had not noticed before. I really appreciate your support.

    Thank you very much, Vicki.I really enjoyed working on this painting.

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  11. I agree about the horizontal lines and would like to see more of that luscious reddish color you used in the larger vines there, too. I like this and it's not too busy. Glazing and layering are techniques many people use to get depth in a painting - nothing wrong with that. I think this is a winner :)

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  12. Oh, thank you, Rhonda! Painting those horizontal stems that reddish color is a splendid idea. I am so glad that you like this painting- I really respect your opinion.

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  13. I have to say I find the best way for me to get rich darks is to glaze, glaze and then glaze some more lol. I really like this, I do not find it too busy. I think everything that needed to be said has already been said :)

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  14. Krista, thank you. I always hesitate to put too many layers on in fear that the result will look too heavy. I suppose the trick is to keep applying thin layers. I am glad that you like this painting...apart from a few imperfections, I like it too:-) I rarely say this:-)

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  15. Coming late to this, I don't think I can add anything new.
    The painting is excellent.
    I love the way you can talk yourself through what you've learned and need to learn. That's a wonderful ability.

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  16. Never too late, Pat. I always enjoy your visits! I still have so much to learn that it is easy to identify a learning need with each painting:-)

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  17. christiane beautifully painted ..the passion looks excellent on the screen

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  18. Thank you so much Jane. All my best wishes to you for the new year.

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  19. Tried to send comment earlier so you may get this twice, been off blog lately but update text added last week. How ever do you achieve such glowing colours?

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    Replies
    1. Joan, it is so so nice to hear from you!
      Thank you for your compliment. I don't remember how I painted this painting, but I think that leaving a lot of white highlights really helped!
      Welcome back!

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