I did six paintings using the photo I chose for June’s Painting project as the starting point. Two were dire and I’m not going to show you those. One was in watercolour, the other in acrylic. The former I gave up on as it got too dark and I didn’t feel like making it a mixed media piece because I was trying to do ‘pure’ watercolour; the latter I even tore up the next day, which I rarely do.
Here are the other four. The top two are mixed media on paper (acrylic and oil pastel) and were done first, followed by the watercolour bottom left (I hadn’t taped the edges) and the acrylic on canvas bottom right. (I’ve created a step-by-step video of photos taken as I painted the first two for project subscribers.)
The latter is my favourite, and feels like persistence rewarded. If you’re thinking it’s more realistic than many of my paintings, it’s simply because I was in the mood for a bit of painterly realism.
I like the second one a lot, it has an almost abstract feel to it and my eye is drawn to the big rock at the top and then led around the painting. All of them are beautiful and deliver different feelings, which I like very much from paintings and what I try to achieve in my own work. I’ts hard to do in landscape.
Thanks Gail! I had a great deal of fun and frustration as I did these, trying to retain lively mark making, sticking with transparent only with the watercolour version, having enough tonal contrast, and getting the dramatic green to feel it belongs.
Very nice! I like the last one the best, as I am more of a realist, but I really, really like the second one!
Thanks Sherri! The second one has the greatest tonal contrast, and is a reminder to me to not be “afraid of the dark”. I’m very happy with the last one because it has the greater degree of realism I was striving for whilst still having some lively mark making which you see when you’re up close.
I like the second one, Why? I really don’t know, it just appeals to me very much.
I’m going to go along and choose #2 as well. It is very pleasing to the eye. The other paintings are nice, but #2 just seems to stand out.
Thanks Doug! I think in #2 I wasn’t trying as hard as in #1 to get things “right”, and the result reflects this.
Wonderful photo and wonderful paintings Marion.
I love the (is it the 4th?) the Long narrow one second row on right!!
Why? Emotional response to Composition. Focus contained and then leading me directly out into the freedom!
Yes, the long narrow one was the fourth one. Thank you for putting into words what I felt but hadn’t narrowed down about it myself — “Focus contained and then leading me directly out into the freedom!”.