Here's a photo that I'd forgotten about. It was on another camera which was lost in my studio chaos. This is a shot from San Luis Obispo Plein Air. I was on the side of the Los Osos Valley Road, on either side of which are these beautiful farmscapes.
As you can see, I'm not painting all that literally. The two most obvious deviations are; eucalyptus trees became much taller, and the sky is painted less blue. Actually, the sky wasn't as blue as the photo suggests - I'm sure you've noticed that photos often make the sky an unnaturally intense and dark blue, haven't you? Still, the sky in my painting is even less blue than that. Why did you do that, you might ask. Or you might not. I'll tell you anyway. See, the thing that originally attracted my attention was the green roof of the big barn. A little bit of an unusual color for a barn roof, and a pretty green it was, too, what with weathered patina and all. And in order to emphasize that focal point, I had to be careful with other colors so that they did not overpower the green of the focal point. Had I painted the blue of the sky as I actually saw it, I think it would have been much less effective.
Anyway, I think it's interesting to see the painting alongside the location shot so the artist's intent becomes really obvious. I wish there were more opportunities to see other artist's paintings alongside the location photos. I get to see some of that in person when I do these events, but usually, I'm busy painting too. I should make time to do more of just hanging around better artists and watching them work.
As you can see, I'm not painting all that literally. The two most obvious deviations are; eucalyptus trees became much taller, and the sky is painted less blue. Actually, the sky wasn't as blue as the photo suggests - I'm sure you've noticed that photos often make the sky an unnaturally intense and dark blue, haven't you? Still, the sky in my painting is even less blue than that. Why did you do that, you might ask. Or you might not. I'll tell you anyway. See, the thing that originally attracted my attention was the green roof of the big barn. A little bit of an unusual color for a barn roof, and a pretty green it was, too, what with weathered patina and all. And in order to emphasize that focal point, I had to be careful with other colors so that they did not overpower the green of the focal point. Had I painted the blue of the sky as I actually saw it, I think it would have been much less effective.
Anyway, I think it's interesting to see the painting alongside the location shot so the artist's intent becomes really obvious. I wish there were more opportunities to see other artist's paintings alongside the location photos. I get to see some of that in person when I do these events, but usually, I'm busy painting too. I should make time to do more of just hanging around better artists and watching them work.
8 comments:
Great posting, it is fun to see the point of reference and what you do with it. You taught me a whole new way of looking at things and I wonder how much other artist really change what they see. Cool new blog
Great photo and this photo speaks a thousand words! I'm not sure you had to write anything! Keep your camera with you, and do some more!
Thanks David, I'll try and do more o' these shots. A lot of times, I find I can't set the exposure correctly to both the landscape and the painting, since I'm usually painting in the shade. This one I obviously was in the full sun so it worked out.
Wow, that is a great way to show what you do with the scene. Your changes really do enhance the painting. That gives me encouragement to use paint to show what I see in landscapes.
I learn so much from your blogs!
Tahnk you!! And I do like the new site!
Thanks Mike! I should note that SOMETIMES, I actually try to paint literally - I'd hate to think that I change things because I CAN'T draw what's in front of me, you know what I mean?
Barbara, thanks for that! As they say, a camera does a better job of copying nature. We however can do whatever we like with paint. And so we do.
Hi Terry, That was very helpful! Thank you for your explanation on why you changed the sky. If I may, what is the reason for making the trees bigger? Is it just aesthetics or ??
Carla, the short answer is, yes, it's just aesthetics. Design decisions like these are often made at the gut level (just speaking for myself here). But when you break it down, you can see that if I'd painted the scene "as is", the trees and the big barn have too similar a visual weight, an easy way to create a boring picture!
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