With a little help from my friends and teachers I completed the green grapes watercolor. I could go on but unless I frame it it’s done. Started out as a negative painting.
A little urban sketch of a sculpture in a yard in my neighborhood.
You’ll have to take up the color of the hulls with Manet. Here’s the reference photo.
And this is my watercolor version. Does nobody believe that they didn’t paint hills with black enamel back in those days? I thought I was done but was informed that I needed to go darker in several places. The darker values made things pop. So I’m replacing my original post with this one
This is the latest version of my neighbor’s live oak. Getting closer. I tried to give it more a sense of place. I may work on this some more.
Nice subtle job on those grapes. Looks like a crow in the upper left, but then everything looks like something.
ReplyDeleteIf those guys painting the hills (hulls) with black enamel all jumped off a cliff would you do that too?
That thumbnail certainly does not treat the wild oak well. Up close and big it is gorgeous.
No. But there are thousands of current sailboats with black hulls.
DeleteI like what you added to the grapes. Subtle. For some reason the black shape to the left of them still looks too dominate. All the other dark shapes fade into the background effectively, but that one jumps out too much. Perhaps it's too big or too definite. The sketch looks good with all the scribble line work. Maybe a bit of darkness at the bottom to balance it out. I still like the first big oak painting the best. But this one is still in progress.
ReplyDeleteOh, the boats. I like your watercolor of the boats better than the oil! I do think that black is too dense regardless of what the actual boat is painted with.
DeleteA big yes to the additions to the grapes! I like the line/wash sculpture sketch. There's a nice crispness to the lines that really draws attention to the focal point. Is that oak done on Yupo? Up close, the leaf texture intrigues me. I can't decide if I like it or if I prefer the earlier, simpler versions. But I keep looking, so there's that. I like the way you chose to use your medium to advantage and the Manet as inspiration. Makes for a very fine copy.
ReplyDeleteThe grapes are lovely but I agree with Pat that the upper left dark area JUMPS out…great little sketch - I like the combo of the ink scribbles and paint marks, gives it a lively quality. The boats look fine but your water could be darker imo to contrast with the building reflections on the shore. (It amazes me how many old master paintings feature boats and water…but I guess they didn’t have cars and highways to paint…) love the green leaves on the old oak tree…
ReplyDeleteThe painting is on Yupo and the technique used for live oak leaves is the same for both paintings. I might add some darker greens.
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