This is a studio version of a plein air painting done in the Weaselhead Wilderness Area minutes away from our house. I’m very excited by this painting. For one thing I think it translated extremely well from the smaller original. It’s related but different and has a life of it’s own. Most importantly it also represents another step in my artistic journey. It was a nice painting with a lot of positive elements but nothing more until the last 15% of the painting when I added the rhythmic strokes horizontally across the mid ground. They were completely fresh and spontaneous strokes made with my favourite brush for this type of effect – a large squirrel wash brush. Anyway, I think that those strokes took this painting to the next level and I’m very excited by it. These spontaneous brush strokes are starting to happen more frequently which I attribute to all the practice and exploration I’ve been doing in the last year. Now the only thing I’m wondering is after I darkened the mid ground hill on the left I’m wondering if these horizontal strokes could be even a darker value. I’ll just live with this for a while to decide.
Weaselhead Rhythms
watercolour
18″ X 24″
To purchase this painting or for more information contact me.
Hi , I like it!!! Particularly the colors. Maybe I’ll get there someday. A question (I would like your perspective). I’ve been taking online classes from Johannes Vloothuis , http://improvemypaintings.com/
on landscape compositions. He continually harps on a melodic line for hills, trees, shore lines, etc. He would say your red tree line is visually a straight line. From his perspective, a cardinal sin. Your take? Happy Painting. Richard
Richard:
We seem to be on a very similar wavelength. My take is two fold. First I agree with him. Straight lines can demand too much attention and be visually less interesting. In the case of the top of the tree line I noticed that as soon as I finished it. In fact if you look closely at the top of the tree line on the left side I actually lifted it out quite a bit because I wasn’t happy with the shape. It helped a little. The actual scene had the tree line diminishing as it went into the distance and as I looked at it after it was finished I thought, that it probably isn’t worth trying to fix it in this painting but I would like to do it again in a different format and I would correct that line at that time. So his idea is good. These rules are rules because they have stood the test of time. The second part of my answer would be that people do knowingly break this and other cherished rules with great success. I have seen very successful paintings with the subject smack dab in the middle which is another no-no. In my experience I find it essential to learn as many rules as possible including all the elements and principles of design and to keep them in mind when painting because they almost always make the painting better. So, I like to keep an open mind that ultimately the work speaks for itself and even cherished rules can be broken successfully. In this case, however, I agree with your teacher.
As for your comment, ‘Maybe I’ll get there someday.’ I teach a lot of beginning artists and I have found that ANYONE who wants to get there can. If they are willing to put the miles on the brush. I’m self taught and I’ve made every mistake possible and taken every dead end and detour possible but I just kept at it and studied and practiced and whereas I’m not totally there yet I’m miles ahead of where I was. Keep at it!
Rex
Thanks for the positive feedback. I recently read a saying by Herman Melville – “I’d rather fail at originality than succeed at imitation. I’ve fallen into doing the latter. I thoroughly enjoy watching videos and duplicating the demo. When I try to do original work, I get lost half way to the end. I know how to correct the problem, I just have to put in the work. Thanks for all that you share. Adios from Texas. Richard
Thank you for your comments, Richard. I’ve enjoyed it. I wish there was a word or something that could enable you to make that transition from copying to creating but there isn’t. I find there are 2 things involved in preventing that change. One is fear of trying something new, fear of failure and general self doubt. The other is having a habit of always doing it one way or doing the same thing. In either case the cure is to just do it. Make a commitment to find a subject that inspires you, plan it out, then get out the paper and just do it. If it doesn’t work you’ll learn something and if it does work out you’ll learn something else. Either way you win.
Good luck.
Rex
Hi Rex and Richard,
Interesting conversation. On the topic of “copying”, I thought I’d share a very interesting story from today’s news that shows this has wonderfully long tradition:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2105928,00.html
Hi Shelley:
Thanks for your comments. This copying thing is indeed an interesting question. Copying from the masters has long been considered one of the best ways to learn to paint. I also find that I copy myself fairly frequently for a number of reasons including feeling I have something new to say on an old subject. Da Vinci apparently had his own reasons for wanting copies of his work. In my drawing class I often say that when we want to learn to draw well we are actually wanting to ‘copy’ nature accurately. I always feel strange saying that word copy because it implies not being original or creative. But copying nature is in fact what accurate drawing is.
Thanks for the encouragement. I’ve come to that very understanding. That’s my goal for the next year. I’m starting by taking a 12 class course with Ric Dentinger ( http://ricdentinger.com/art/ ) I’ve discussed this with him and he assures me he’ll help me work thru this problem. Thanks again. Adios Richard
Hi Richard:
I checked out your link. Beautiful work. I’m constantly amazed at how many great artists are out there. Thank goodness that as many as there out there is always room for more. Good luck in your artistic journey. If you want it and are willing to work for it you’ll achieve it.