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Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Pink and Blue in Oil Paint and Critique

The Southwest and Western Forum on wetcanvas has a monthly challenge to paint Southwest photos.  We share the hosting and February is my month.  I chose photos from our travels around New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado.  Artists can choose to paint as many as they want in any medium.  Photos can be combined, cropped or used as is.  It is fun.  Come join in!

Pink and Blue
Oil on canvas panel
9 x 12 inches
But wait!!! ..... something went wrong.

I used M. Graham oil paints made with walnut oil.  They have no odor and I can used them with no allergy problems.  I get a headache from regular oil paints which have linseed oil in them.  The paint doesn't have quite as much body, but it has good color and is easy to clean up with just the walnut oil and paint brush cleaner.  I use Ugly Dog Brush Soap and have for years.  In fact it is the same old container.

I always work quickly.  I painted this in a few hours, a la prima, as they say, all at once.  I get bored if I have to work on a painting for an extended time.  This sat overnight and I changed a few things.  The roof is a bit saggy ... well, it is old, right?  Rarely do I go back.

After looking this all over I am using it as a practice piece.  In my photo you cannot see the sky at all and the wall with the window should go back at more of an angle, that is why the roof and window are so slanted.  There is a corner at the end of the blue roof on my right so the shadows are completely wrong.  The photo was all in the shade and I made up the shadows.  Be careful when you change a photo so drastically.  Be aware where the light is coming from.

The other thing I see that is my mistake is the front wall.  I placed the curve right at the corner of the wall which makes them look like they come together with the "kiss".
This is more the shape I had in mind.


This would have been the composition, more or less.  Much better. 


I do like the colors and the Hollyhocks.  I would like the window to be bluer as well.

I hope this self critique will help you when you decide how to handle painting from a photograph.  Thanks for putting up with my practice and thinking out loud.






2 comments:

individuo said...

Hi Jo! :)

Wow! look at those flowers!
Your critique is very helpful and you are right, but it is still a very beautiful piece.

You have a nice blog, I should visit it more often. I finally understood the cheating joke LOL, forgot to comment about it on the Scavenger Hunts.
No pressure, but it would be nice to see you with your ukulele in Joanna's instagram in let's say... a couple of years? Just half kidding there but have fun with the ukulele.

Take care
See you :)

Jo Castillo said...

Hi individuo, Nice to see you off wetcanvas. Thanks, I have forgotten much about painting because I haven't been painting. So a little self critique is now necessary.
I've enjoyed posting. It is as close to a journal or diary that I've ever kept up with. I hope you find other posts helpful.
The ukulele is not easy especially when it is not my main focus. Good to exercise the brain, though.


About Me

My photo
Bastrop, Texas, United States
I Grew up in a small town , Magdalena, New Mexico. I enjoy art and the pleasure other people get from my work. I always donate some of my sales and art to charities, especially for children. That started in Bolivia with Para los Niños. "I cannot pretend to feel impartial about colors. I rejoice with the brilliant ones and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns." -- Winston Churchill

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