From the Artist: This month´s project was completed in just three hours, following a couple of very preliminary sketches in pen and ink and watercolour. But following a tip from a forum member on using piped gesso, I decided to be more adventurous and piped the design with the gesso. It was wonderfully plump when I did it but as it dried, it gradually deflated! So the bas-relief effect I was expecting did not materialize! It is slightly raised but not as much as I had hoped and painting round the gesso with acrylics was hard too. After a couple of layers (and time pressing) I decided to use oil pastels.
I have learned several things whilst doing this project: mainly to experiment with media first before putting them together; don´t try to work to a time schedule, in other words allow yourself plenty of time to complete your painting; be patient and don´t give up even if the result isn't what you hope for!
This result isn't what I wanted and there are lots of things wrong, for example composition, quality of painting, tone, etc., but it has been a learning curve and a challenge (as all the painting projects are for me) but so stimulating!
From the Painting Guide: I think there are lots right too, but it lacks unity overall. While the green grasses do to some extent link the sections of the painting, I don't think it's enough to counter the dividing effect of the strong light blue band. Hold up a hand to crop off the top third and see how you feel about it (though it loses the sense of distance, I think it strengthens the foreground). Or maybe where the sand meets the water wants to be a softer edge, rather than such a strong horizontal line?
The composition of the foreground is very strong, with the variation in shapes, tone, and color in a loose triangle that's topped by the starfish (the shape echoing the triangles in the starfish). I'd probably add a little shadow under the starfish to give it a bit more of feeling of lying on the rock. Especially given how some of the strong darks between the rocks "read" as shadows.
I have learned several things whilst doing this project: mainly to experiment with media first before putting them together; don´t try to work to a time schedule, in other words allow yourself plenty of time to complete your painting; be patient and don´t give up even if the result isn't what you hope for!
This result isn't what I wanted and there are lots of things wrong, for example composition, quality of painting, tone, etc., but it has been a learning curve and a challenge (as all the painting projects are for me) but so stimulating!
From the Painting Guide: I think there are lots right too, but it lacks unity overall. While the green grasses do to some extent link the sections of the painting, I don't think it's enough to counter the dividing effect of the strong light blue band. Hold up a hand to crop off the top third and see how you feel about it (though it loses the sense of distance, I think it strengthens the foreground). Or maybe where the sand meets the water wants to be a softer edge, rather than such a strong horizontal line?
The composition of the foreground is very strong, with the variation in shapes, tone, and color in a loose triangle that's topped by the starfish (the shape echoing the triangles in the starfish). I'd probably add a little shadow under the starfish to give it a bit more of feeling of lying on the rock. Especially given how some of the strong darks between the rocks "read" as shadows.