Gawler Ranges, Australia, WIP
colored pencil on drafting film, 12 in x 15 in
copyright J. Rose Welty
This needs some more tweaking, I think. It may need to sit for a few days...i.e. I need it to sit for a few days so I can "see" it again.
Just a quickie today...here's what I'm off to do...
Just a quickie today...here's what I'm off to do...
8 comments:
Hi Rose,
This is just beautiful you have done a marvellous job. The only thing i can point out is that the two lighter plant things/areas at the front of the tree seem to be a bit distracting for me i think they might be a bit too light in value my eye just goes straight to them and distracts from the rest. But i am not sure whether its just that i am not seeing it large / in RL.
anywho well done :)
like to see what else your off to .. cheeeky monkey :)
Nice drawing. I love how stylized it is. Seems like an unusual technique too. Why do you like drawing on that paper?
Belinda,
Thanks. I do think something is a little off in the values, it doesn't quite have the impact I thought it would have. I checked it with the reference, the green areas should really be darker...and I do think that the light bushes need something more...they almost look unfinished up close in RL. I've tried to not look at it today and hope that tomorrow from across the room, it will dawn on me! :-) Thanks for the encouragement, I'm a little discouraged with it, so it helps to hear good things - so I press on and don't give up! :-)
Dee,
Thanks for stopping by, I'm from So CA, it was fun to look around your blog.
If my technique is unusual it's just because I'm not that good at following all those CP rules...coloring in with thousands of little circles...I just can't do that. :-) Drafting film (or vellum) is great for CPs! You can erase to nothing, it doesn't require as many layers as regular paper. It isn't as finicky about the point of the pencil being sharp either. I nearly gave up on CPs after trying them several times on regular paper. I just couldn't achieve the "painterly impression" that I wanted to on that surface. But, the drafting film has made all the difference. I'm still learning with CPs, but IMHO, CPs on drafting film is what painting should feel like. (As for paint, I can't control it and it's just never what I expect.)
Rose,
It looks beautiful! I especially like how the tree turned out. I'm glad you have found drafting film. I know another person who makes beautiful florals on vellum. I have used it before and like the painterly effect you can achieve from it.
Thanks Valerie! I don't think I could go back to paper for CPs. :-)
Rose - So sorry to hear you're feeling discouraged by the work. Please don't be - everything we do is a learning experience even if they don't always turn out quite how we expected! :)
It's great that you like drafting film and that it makes CP a more workable medium for you. I'm a great believer in everybody finds 'their' surface in CP depending on how you like to work.
The composition of the tree also reminds me of the tree he did in the south of France near Antibes.
You've commented on the values - but of course Monet's values sometimes looked a bit odd too!
I'm wondering whether you should maybe look at the colour treatment instead. For me Monet is all about how he sees colour and then colour mixing on the support. I'm wondering whether your colour mixing on the film isn't coming through as much as planned? You quoted his 'blue and pink' quote earlier in your posts about Monet and I guess what I'm missing is more of that sort of optical mixing which makes the colour in his pictures vibrate pictorially. For example, have you tried using red to get deeper values in your greens - and leaving it obvious as having been used? Monet used a lot of complementary colours to get darks - it's said he never used black.
I know I found choosing a subject to make the colour mixing work was really difficult. I also don't feel like I've got to grips with the colour aspect in my Monet posts this month. It's been much more about composition. Leaving myself something to focus on for when I get to the series paintings I guess! ;)
The great thing about drafting film is it does allow you to experiment and try things out as it is so easy to erase. So nothing is lost - and I'm sure you'll be able to see what to do to it very soon. :D
Katherine,
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments. I've been thinking about the color mixing today. I think you are right there...that is another area of color that I have almost no experience with. I have been using complementary colors throughout (ever since you mentioned it to me a few months back.)I actually read that Sargent tried to argue Monet into black on the palette several times, unsuccessfully.
But, as you say, I usually cover the complementary - i.e. layering green, red, green. So, that's a few things to think about not covering the complementary and trying more of an optical mixing approach. As you say, choosing a subject for that will be a challenge, let alone executing it :-).
Thanks again Katherine. I am really enjoying the journey my artwork is taking. And the challenge of it makes successes all the sweeter!
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