I met with some possible clients the other day, and realized how early it is getting dark.
The city lights were on and I needed to finish up.
It occured to me that this moment could make a nice painting, (part of a series Tony Peters
had commented on, (thanks Tony)
So I decided to stay and work on this piece. It's not done, it's really ruff, but the blog must be fed!
5'x7' oil on gesso'd board
6 comments:
Your little cars are so cute! Nice slice of life piece.
Thanks Cindy, I'm not tring to make cute cars,
but since detroit and the rest of the world have decided not to make "cool" cars anymore,
(I see most of them as tennis shoes!) cute will have to do!
I love paintings of the night, they depict an evocative mood that's quite distinctive. In the past, not many artists would try to paint night scenes. There's a handful, like Van Gogh and his "Starry Night"... I imagine Vincent slaving away, while trying to see his color mixtures on his palette through the use of a candle hat:-)
My favorite part of your piece here is the middle-ground lighting, because it seems like you were going for something beautifully naturalistic there. The windows are softly indicated, the color has an earthy quality to it, and the values use a subtle transition of light to dark. It's a nice little spot!
Per your email request, I'm pleased to offer you a critique. So here goes...
In my own work, I find myself needing to be continually conscious of maintaining the "center of interest" in a given painting. Your skyline in this piece is quite dramatic with that blue and orange use of complimentary colors (sky and skyscrapers). It might be pulling too much attention away from your dramatic foreground lighting (your center of interest because of it's value contrasts). If this were my painting, I would put the attention more on the foreground rather than the background. You can accomplish this by knocking back that high key color saturation of your orange skyline buildings and blue sky, plus slightly softening those edges of the buildings. Maintain any saturated color there only sparingly. Perhaps by making the background "earthier" and less dramatic, it won't compete for the eye's attention... this could help the piece to be even more to your liking.
Anyway, those are my thoughts, thanks for asking. It's a fantastic view, I can't wait to see more!
Thank you Tony!
Your critique is helpful indeed.
You,ve helped me to "stand back & Look" at what
I'm painting.
Also you've made me aware of factors I need to
keep "in front of me" as I paint.
It's all a learning experience, and I want to
improve my work.
Your critique should help me to dial in on,&
develope the improvements I'm after.
Thanks again Tony,I was lost on this, and needed help. I'm glad I ask you.
Has a nice feel Bill, I like the lighted area in the lower portion of the painting very much. Lots of interesting things for the eye to look at.
Bill, I worked at Ford as a mechanical engineer for 13 years. When we redid the Mustang around 1992, we sure did think we were making an exciting car. :(
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