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| I thought I had finished at this point ... |
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| then I went over the foreground cobalt blue with a w/w glaze of ultramarine |
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| added a bit of ultramarine to the bee' shadow |
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| Then I received an email from Prabal Mallick, at http://michael-learns-to-paint.blogspot.ca He asked a "what if" question - my favorite type of question! What if you darken the background behind the bee? So I did - a graduated and a flat wash of quin. burnt orange below, and another of cobalt blue above. I really think it makes the painting a much better composition. Thank you, Prabal! As always, your comments are most welcome. |
Hello Kathryn:) Before you know it you've got a whole new painting:) Nice to get such "what if" questions! You always can do your advantage with others ideas! I love the painting,very original!
ReplyDeleteI love this subject and how the bee is just bathed in light, casting a delicate and intricate shadow. A beautiful tiny gem, Kathryn.
ReplyDeleteWow! It made a huge difference...now it looks finished..I would love my blogger friends to tell me when I can improve my painting!! We learn from being critiqued!!
ReplyDeletePrabal is very good at spotting things. He has spotted a few things from me too! And the dark background makes the bee come forward so now he looks even more scarey! Eek!
ReplyDeleteIt's great to get such nice input from other artists. I agree it is better now. But I also like the lighter version, I have to say.
ReplyDeleteI like how the darkening made the bee pop, and emphasized the translucent quality of the wings of the bee. I really like this painting -- it has a light-filled quality. I also like the texture effects you had in the bottom cobalt blue shadow, which add interest.
ReplyDeleteWhat I see at this point is that the cobalt blue shadow at the bottom is similar in value and therefore divide the attention of the viewer equally. I think the cobalt blue shadow can use some more darkening. Cobalt do not go into the dark range by itself though, so you may need to combine it with another blue that's darker. I also think the Quin-Gold background flat wash is not as interesting as the Cobalt shadow. Introducing a little color variation in this area, even just a very subtle gradation to make one end of the strip a little muted or cooler than the other end, would add a lot more interest.
I don't know if you have come across the Artist David Dewey (http://www.daviddeweywatercolors.com/) -- I think he is among the best contemporary painters in terms of using large color field (flat and gradated washes in terms of watercolor). He often use large, quite areas of pure color to contrast with small areas of concentrated drawing and structure in his painting, which I think is very similar to the idea of this painting. I'm looking forward to see the finished version!
Yes thats it!! Its marvelous!
ReplyDeletelove
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