Another request for critique
9mo
@paper
Hello, alongside several drawing I had just posted, I would also like to ask critique for this remake of an old painting I did a year ago (it's here if anyone interested https://www.proko.com/community/topics/hello-i-made-another-fanart-would-like-some-critism) But the original was done with gouache/ acrylic/ watermixable oil on acrylic paper. I frame it behind glass but I realized a year later that the glass wasn't uv protected, meaning it would darken if left exposed to any direct/ indirect sunlight. I wanted to change the glass but the glob of watermixable oil stuck to the glass, meaning it might rip the paper off if I try to dismantle it ;_:
So in light of this, I remake my old painting in oil (The medium that I actually wanted to create it in the first place but got afraid because of the toxicity of the solvent)
I already mentioned James Bama as one of my influence for this painting in my old post, his thoughtful costume design and his respect for the sitter, to give each of his subject a dignity with their own problem. Even though the character I'm painting isn't real, I want to give them as much humanity Bama does.
But also, I don't think I mention Valentin Serov, whose color palette really attract me. This part may be a bit more general than what this post is discussing, but I really want my painting to be as varied in color as Serov does. When I look at James Bama work, even though the thing he is painting varied from painting to painting, and the texture and application is different, I found their color so similar that it started to annoy me. Serov's work are also kinda similar (at least, if you compare him to someone like Jeff Watt or Fechin) but I found there's enough variation to make his body of work interesting. Something I strive for in my work.
Speaking of Fechin, this is probably the final artist whose work is most noticeable here. In term of this painting, it probably is the biggest influence, since I wanted to simulate the viewer being in a blizzard and looking at this girl and Fechin's brushstroke I found perfect. Though in term of overall career, I'll probably move away from his work, considering the more I look at it, the more I feel it gimmicky >_< (Also, this may be unrelated, and I'm sure the man I'm tagging is busy- so I'm very sorry about this, but I wonder if Mr @Stan Prokopenko would like this, considering he's a big Fechin fan)
Anyway, going back 50 sentences, the 2 biggest critic I would like to know is if the figure of Reimu (the girl in the painting) not being directly in the middle and not being symmetrical annoy the viewer, I try to fix this asymmetry in csp but for the love of me couldn't make it perfectly balance, it always either made the painting boring or when I flip it, it became asymmetrical again. I'm asking because I wonder if this is something I should be worried about or if it's all in my head, I saw John singer Sargent's Lady Agnew (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Edinburgh_NGS_Singer_Sargent_Lady_Agnew.JPG/800px-Edinburgh_NGS_Singer_Sargent_Lady_Agnew.JPG) and Ilya Repin's Autumn Bouquet (https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%BF%D0%B8%D0%BD,_%D0%98%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%8F_%D0%95%D1%84%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87#/media/%D0%A4%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BB:Repin_bouquet.jpg) And I don't think people care about the fact that both of them are off center (But then again, I don't know how much people notice that or if these painters were still alive today, would they groan at this fact? Would they want to change it if given the opportunity? I wonder)
Secondly, I ask if the bow on her head is distracting. I added it there because the original design of Reimu had it there, but I'm starting to wonder if I should downplay it more considering the rest of her outfit is very down to earth, and also not to mention that her expression is so serious, that I ask "will this ruin the tone of the painting? Is this not consistent enough?" I try ridding of it when the oil paint was still wet (hence the thick paint above her bow) but in the end it made the design less interesting and more boring. So since I can't fix it now, I will just ask for some opinions and see if I can 'fix' it for my next painting
This post had become too long. I only thank the people who have read this from start to finish and had given their time to write a feedback for my work (thank you a lot >_<)
(Oh also, I know this is rare, since I usually only tag you guys once per month, but @Liandro and @Jesper Axelsson any thoughts?)
8mo
Hi! :)
1) I think with the examples of Sargent and Repin, my guess is that the figures were placed slightly off-center and the painters utilized the surrounding elements to counterbalance the asymmetry (e.g. the trees, mountain, signature in Repin's). This would maintain the focal importance of the object placed center while still keeping the overall image dynamic and interesting.
2) I don't think the bow detracts from the painting's tone. If anything, I think it makes it more interesting against the setting and creates a more interesting silhouette, but I think this is more of a subjective opinion.
On the side, I would also like to ask if you are aiming for something completely realistic or a blend of representational painting mixed with the character's original anime style. I've seen artists do both before, one that comes to mind would be RossDraws, so I'm curious as to what your goal is.
A more general tip I would have is to watch the readability of the image, with an eye towards the simplification of values and the readability of the silhouette. With paintings, it always helps to do a small value study beforehand to have as a guide. It's also an incredibly valuable exercise to practice notan studies off the masters, in order to gain an understanding for their composition and control of the image. I included one for the original painting you mentioned along with some notes I hope are useful. I realize your scene is a bit tricky given the blizzard, but the Bama snow painting can too be simplified into basic values so it can be a very useful reference as to how to approach the snow.
@paper
7mo
Hello @Martha Muniz , thanks for the feedback! I'm sorry for the late reply, I got burn out after I posted this had started out college soon after, so I had to take a break >_<
1) Hmmm, I see, yeah I never noticed that. It's been 2 months since I last posted this and I actually did went back and try to fix it just because every time I looked at the non symmetry it annoys me. My attempt at a solution is making the lower left be darker to mirror the cliffs of the lower right. I also realized the photo I send of my painting 2 months ago was shot using natural warm light, and I found that this made the painting worse, since it made the base white of the panel warm, and making the snow warmer. This cause it the contrast of cool background and warm dress to be slightly off. It's not the biggest mistake, but I try to fix it, by this time taking a photograph under cool natural light (Though I'm not quite sure if it works or not >_<)
2) On the topic of if I want to paint stylized or realistic, I didn't
really had an answer when this by question was posted but I'm
starting to realized I'll probably do the former. Recently I went to
my grandparent's house and had a plan to paint them when I was cured
of my burnout. When I had taken enough photo reference, I decide to
start sorting out the shapes using charcoal. At that point I began to
realized how boring it was to paint so literally. Maybe it was because
most of the painter I looked at, such as Sargent, Repin, Serov (and
actually even Fechin) was realist and the more I look at it, even if
they have style, the more I got bored at looking and doing them. I
think at this point I started to stop looking at them and more at the
artist that leave reality. 2 in particular are Hokusai and J.C.
Leyendecker. I was aware of both their work for a long while, but only
recently rediscovered and fall in love with them, especially after
looking at this blogpost about the Leyendecker exhibition
https://www.muddycolors.com/2023/08/leyendecker-under-cover/ . (Oh,
and I should also probably add Takehiko Inoue, but I was always
looking at his work even in my realist stage) I guess what I'm trying to say is I want to paint calm stylized painting.
Really sorry that it took that long to answers that question >_<
Also thanks for the advice! I actually don't do thumbnails on my painting so that's probably why most of them are hard to see. I'll try to do more, though to be honest it's really hard for me since imagining what my painting would look like in a small thumbnail is almost impossible to me, I feel like I can only imagine it when I draw it to at least an a4 (also the knowledge that I've been this exercise for a year now and still having the same problem https://www.proko.com/s/WwMU), though I never try to draw my thumbnail bigger than a postage stamp size, maybe something less than a playing card could do? Oh well, hopefully one of these day I'll finally get the concept
.........Actually, I kinda been meaning to ask for a while now (but was too embarrassed to ask it). What does clarity mean?
But beside that, thanks again for the feedback! For someone to take the time to critique my painting is very nice :D
8mo
Oops, I accidentally uploaded the digital version for the final image, where I try to fix the painting, here's the original oil without any edits >_<
