From the Artist: I loved working with a limited color selection, which kept me from making mud, as I often do. The colors and texture is not photographing well, but they are all there and helped give interest to bland rocks. I would love some suggestions since I'm still a novice self-taught painter.
From the Painting Guide: Working with fewer pigments does indeed reduce the possibilities of mixing up mud, though it doesn't eliminate the possibility! The colors you've got in this painting seem perfect for the scene: the sky and sea are differentiated, the rocks have subtle variations in color rather than being solid, flat blocks, and the texture you've got in the white sea foam stops it from being visually boring. Though I do wonder if the transition between light and dark blue in the sea is a little fast, whether the darkest blue you've got there should be reduce to a mere sliver on the horizon?
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Composition: The choice of a high horizon creates a sense of distance in the scene, emphasized by the scale of the rocks in the foreground. The two bands of rock coming in from the left lead your eye up and into the composition, while the rock on the right-hand side stops your eye from just drifting off the edge.
There are a couple of elements that are almost kissing the horizon -- the rock that just goes over it and the wave that almost reaches it. I wonder if the rock shouldn't extend a little higher?
Creating Form: The rocks in this painting has a very strong sense of form, of being three dimensional. This is created mostly by tone, but also through the colors and texture. Look at how the highlights create a sense of sun falling on the rock, reinforced by the corresponding shadow. Squint at the painting and you'll see the shapes created by the shadows, which also pull your eye across the composition. I certainly don't think they're bland: there's visual interest created by texture, color, and tone.
From the Painting Guide: Working with fewer pigments does indeed reduce the possibilities of mixing up mud, though it doesn't eliminate the possibility! The colors you've got in this painting seem perfect for the scene: the sky and sea are differentiated, the rocks have subtle variations in color rather than being solid, flat blocks, and the texture you've got in the white sea foam stops it from being visually boring. Though I do wonder if the transition between light and dark blue in the sea is a little fast, whether the darkest blue you've got there should be reduce to a mere sliver on the horizon?
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Composition: The choice of a high horizon creates a sense of distance in the scene, emphasized by the scale of the rocks in the foreground. The two bands of rock coming in from the left lead your eye up and into the composition, while the rock on the right-hand side stops your eye from just drifting off the edge.
There are a couple of elements that are almost kissing the horizon -- the rock that just goes over it and the wave that almost reaches it. I wonder if the rock shouldn't extend a little higher?
Creating Form: The rocks in this painting has a very strong sense of form, of being three dimensional. This is created mostly by tone, but also through the colors and texture. Look at how the highlights create a sense of sun falling on the rock, reinforced by the corresponding shadow. Squint at the painting and you'll see the shapes created by the shadows, which also pull your eye across the composition. I certainly don't think they're bland: there's visual interest created by texture, color, and tone.