From the Artist: This was painted in oils on a 6x8" canvas using the three colors; lemon yellow, pthalo blue, burnt sienna plus white. I found it was quite a challenge as I had to abandon my first attempt at a landscape and switch to this seascape where the sand loved the burnt sienna color. Fortunately I saved the neutral gray made of all the colors I had used for the landscape; it's what I used for my distant skyline and to gray some of the other colors.
The sky is the palest of blue grayed down a bit and the white of the clouds has just a hint of yellow. The hill has all the colors in it but unfortunately my scanner isn't showing the green part as well as I like. I really enjoyed the challenge and want to do more paintings with fewer colors as I think it simplifies the decision making.
From the Painting Guide: I'm delighted you enjoyed the challenge, and kept going after your first painting didn't work out. You've produced a nice range of colors from the four, and the gray in the sky captures that hazy feel to a distant sky on a hot sunny day.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Composition: I like the way the water in the foreground and figures lead your eye up the painting, towards the boats in the middle distance and city silhouette in the distance. The horizon line is dangerously close to the middle of the painting, which can create a sense of the painting being cut in two, but for me the strong, slightly angled line of the water's edge counteracts this.
Figures: The positioning of the figures feels natural to me, of people wandering along the shore. To me the two figures on the left look as if they're about to walk around the hill to see what's on the other side, creating a sense of story to the painting. The odd number of figures (five) also applies the composition rule about the number of elements in a painting.
What I do wonder though is why all the figures are walking away from us? Maybe some should be going the other way? They're also all similar heights and walking in similar ways. Maybe one or two should be shorter, or one bending down looking at something in the sand?
Tone: There's lovely variation in color, tone, texture, and a sense of depth in the hill. But to me it's too dark in tone by comparison to the rest. If you squint it stands out strongly as a dark shape. If this were my painting, I'd lighten it in tone. Also the sea a little at the base of the city, which has fabulous tones and sense of distance.
The sky is the palest of blue grayed down a bit and the white of the clouds has just a hint of yellow. The hill has all the colors in it but unfortunately my scanner isn't showing the green part as well as I like. I really enjoyed the challenge and want to do more paintings with fewer colors as I think it simplifies the decision making.
From the Painting Guide: I'm delighted you enjoyed the challenge, and kept going after your first painting didn't work out. You've produced a nice range of colors from the four, and the gray in the sky captures that hazy feel to a distant sky on a hot sunny day.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Composition: I like the way the water in the foreground and figures lead your eye up the painting, towards the boats in the middle distance and city silhouette in the distance. The horizon line is dangerously close to the middle of the painting, which can create a sense of the painting being cut in two, but for me the strong, slightly angled line of the water's edge counteracts this.
Figures: The positioning of the figures feels natural to me, of people wandering along the shore. To me the two figures on the left look as if they're about to walk around the hill to see what's on the other side, creating a sense of story to the painting. The odd number of figures (five) also applies the composition rule about the number of elements in a painting.
What I do wonder though is why all the figures are walking away from us? Maybe some should be going the other way? They're also all similar heights and walking in similar ways. Maybe one or two should be shorter, or one bending down looking at something in the sand?
Tone: There's lovely variation in color, tone, texture, and a sense of depth in the hill. But to me it's too dark in tone by comparison to the rest. If you squint it stands out strongly as a dark shape. If this were my painting, I'd lighten it in tone. Also the sea a little at the base of the city, which has fabulous tones and sense of distance.