From the Artist: I couldn't get the shading on the flower right somehow, and I feel I overworked the main flower and leaves. I wanted the background to look much further away, but have a suggestion of poppies growing outside. How could I have pushed the background away? I thought using greeny blues would work but it hasn't worked very well at all.
The photo of the set up shows what I started from. I was going to put some beads or pearls coming out of the box but decided not to push my luck. I tried to paint the glass using the advice from your article -- it worked out pretty much as you said! How do you paint shiny fabric? We call the lovely shell a paua -- I believe they're called abalones in other parts of the world.
From the Painting Guide: It always give me a thrill when someone says they were able to use something in one of my articles in a painting. Sure, this is the point of them, but it's still nice to know that it has actually worked out that way.
As far as painting shiny fabric goes, the same principles apply as for glass -- try to forget what it is and focus on figuring out what color (and tones) there are. Break the fabric down into small areas of separate color and paint these individually, then glaze over or blend them a bit to make them gel together.
Background: At the moment the background is fighting for attention with what's intended to be the main area of interest in the painting. If you look at your reference photo and squint, you'll see how dark a tone the windows and outside world are.
I think the solution is to lighten the tones of this area, but not to give it a feel of the bright, yellow glare you get outside on a sunny day. Instead, I'd adjust it so there's not such an extreme contrast in tone between the light wall and the dark outside.
I'd paint it so the red flowers and box have the darkest tone in the painting. The viewer's eye will then be pulled into the red elements both by the strong color and dark tone. Take a look at the four versions in the Painting Problem Solver to get a better idea of what I mean.
Shading on the Flower: I think it needs a little more shadow (or rather darker tone of red) within the flower itself, on the edges of the petals. At the moment they all seem as one continuous mass. Also take another look to see where there are highlights (or lighter tones) that run the length of a petal. At the moment the highlights are very much towards the center and edges.
The photo of the set up shows what I started from. I was going to put some beads or pearls coming out of the box but decided not to push my luck. I tried to paint the glass using the advice from your article -- it worked out pretty much as you said! How do you paint shiny fabric? We call the lovely shell a paua -- I believe they're called abalones in other parts of the world.
From the Painting Guide: It always give me a thrill when someone says they were able to use something in one of my articles in a painting. Sure, this is the point of them, but it's still nice to know that it has actually worked out that way.
As far as painting shiny fabric goes, the same principles apply as for glass -- try to forget what it is and focus on figuring out what color (and tones) there are. Break the fabric down into small areas of separate color and paint these individually, then glaze over or blend them a bit to make them gel together.
Background: At the moment the background is fighting for attention with what's intended to be the main area of interest in the painting. If you look at your reference photo and squint, you'll see how dark a tone the windows and outside world are.
I think the solution is to lighten the tones of this area, but not to give it a feel of the bright, yellow glare you get outside on a sunny day. Instead, I'd adjust it so there's not such an extreme contrast in tone between the light wall and the dark outside.
I'd paint it so the red flowers and box have the darkest tone in the painting. The viewer's eye will then be pulled into the red elements both by the strong color and dark tone. Take a look at the four versions in the Painting Problem Solver to get a better idea of what I mean.
Shading on the Flower: I think it needs a little more shadow (or rather darker tone of red) within the flower itself, on the edges of the petals. At the moment they all seem as one continuous mass. Also take another look to see where there are highlights (or lighter tones) that run the length of a petal. At the moment the highlights are very much towards the center and edges.