Hello I made a new painting,Would like some thoughts
2yr
@paper
I made a bunch of variation of this painting,the first painting dissatisfied me,so I photo it and put it into clip studio paint and see if I could push the vignette further,but found that it could not be salvaged.So I moved on and tried to redo it.The third painting I finsihed today,but found that while technically fine,I found I was not comfortable with the slight upbeat tone as much as the the more subdue and quite tone.(That and I think the color harmony isn't as good as the first now that I look at it)
Anyway,Though looking back,I realise it isn't as bad,I'm still kinda disatisfied.So I'm looking for some thought on how to improve it.Specifically I feel my composition and value isn't as good as I can do.So I hope I could get critique on that.( I also attach my preliminary sketch and close up if that helps)Also on the first one,I was trying to get the feeling of autumn and the changing of the seasons.Would love some feedback if that feeling is there or not
Thanks for replying :D
2yr
Hey, @paper! I’m only catching up now, but hopefully still in time to share some thoughts - if not for this painting in particular (which I’m guessing must be done by now), perhaps for future work!
What mostly stands out to me is how emotional and “visceral” it feels - and, from what I’ve seen you post before, I think this is true for a lot of your other paintings too. Also, the way you work seems intuitive and experimental, and I think these are good qualities.
Some loss of clarity, as other fellows had pointed out already, can sometimes be a price to pay however. Although, in the updated version you posted further below, I think you managed to solve a lot of the clarity issues that the earlier versions presented. The updated one seems to have a much clearer focal point, and the rich textures and strokes from the surroundings don’t compete for attention, but rather harmonize, and that’s mainly because you handled the value contrasts in a way to make the character’s face stand out more, and the environment recede. The way I see it, that’s a huge improvement in terms of composition compared to the earlier versions; though it also has a much “cleaner” aspect, which, to me, personally, feels better, but could be a downside if your intention was to go for a profusion and clutter of elements.
One thing I notice is that you’re often mentioning artistic references from the figurative realism scenario, while, in your work, you also seem to keep a lot of room for abstraction (in one of your comments, I even see you mentioned the idea of letting it loose so the audience will interpret). While masters such as Leyendecker, Dean Cornwell and Andrew Wyeth are incredible, of course, they also had the tendency for a very realistic and tightly solid approach to the figure, which is something that doesn’t strike to me as strongly in your paintings right now. So I’m wondering if this is because you’re still in progress about building your figure draftsmanship skills (and perhaps you wish to eventually reach a figure skillset level of such masters), or is this more abstract and “liquid” approach to form construction something you’re choosing intentionally as a style and truth to the artistic message you want to communicate. I think either one of these possibilities is perfectly fine, as long as you’re mindful and deliberate about the path you wanna take your art through. If expressionism and abstraction are things you might be interested in as well, I think it could be useful to give some attention to modernist painters - there could be a lot for you to “steal” from people such as Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning and Lee Krasner; or even earlier european modernists who are somewhat inbetween abstraction and representation, such as Van Gogh, Munch or Kandinsky.
Of course, these are just wonderings and ideas - up to you to consider what best matches your will and interests!
Hope you find this helpful in some way.
Let me know in case you’d Iike to discuss anything further.
Keep it up and best of luck in your journey!
@paper
2yr
Hello @Liandro,thank you for taking your time to give your thoughts on my work,It's a great honor,sir!Also I'm glad you like my final painting I did,and while I do think it's good.In the end I framed only my first painting,since I think the 2nd and 3rd are too hopeful and nostalgic,respectively.I think my first painting captured that feeling of when something terrible happened and subsequent shock of just looking blankly at the distance.(I guess this kinda tied up with that "visceral" feeling,doesn't it?)
On the topic of wanting to be more clear or wanting more abstractness,I supposed I would go slightly to the abstractness.As one of my gripes and maybe the only thing I don't like about cornwell is that he became too thight as his career went on,as in he told too much of the story(example of my least favorite cornwell below),I quite like it more when he doesn't tell as much about the shapes and lgihts ,where he make shirts and pants big blob of paint and it takes you a second before you "get it"(another Cornwell,this one being my favorite.)
I'll also say,though I love Andrew wyeth,Cornwell,and Leyendecker,I equally love the more abstract artist,such as Fechin,Anthonio Mancini,Gustav Klimt (and kinda Ayami Kojima).Hell one of my Favorite painting is this large one by Fechin.Where (again) he make most of the clothes and enviroment abstract mark and only made the hand and face clear.
On the topic of discussing anything further,it might be greedy to ask of this,but I would love critism on this painting I made for the favorite book illustration contest.I would particulary love if you could critize the proportion is off and if the composition is boring.(Also any other thought on anything not working would also be good)
Anyway,thank you again for taking your time to give your thoughts on my painting:D,I'm sorry that it became a ramble >_<
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2yr
I do like these versions the best of the trilogy. I like the hair and the face (1st image). And the hat in the later one. It's an interesting motif overall and fairly frenetic. I can't see the image you have in your head that you want to produce, so I am sure how to help you achieve it.
Perhaps it's important to concentrate on the smaller details to help support the focus of the scene. The wonderful energy of the image may get lost if you slow down and fiddle with the details, but I think everywhere you apply careful detail so far has paid dividens.
I think all artists need to learn to love making backgrounds. :)
2yr
I'm very interested in your particular way of painting... Is textural approach something in your mind? because it has a potential to naturally include a lot of details/stories in one piece, this kind of composition is
Compositionally I think you already got a quite nice main focal point, the problem may have been value and contrast, because the other elements inside the frame is competing with that character. I think you could make everything else lighter so they kinda surrounds the girl.
I'm quite interested in your stuff in your album. A very free-form painting approach. Would like to hear more thoughts from you as in how you did it.
2yr
Hello @Yiming Wu,
Aaaaaww,thank you,not much people ask me that :D.
Anyway,yes,I try to give my painting as much texture as possible to create interest.I kinda stole it from My hero Dean Cornwell,as he also uses a lot of texture to make area of boringness more interesting (Here are some example taken by Bupdikeart).In fact now that I think about it,quite a few of my art heroes that inspire me have interesting texture to their painting.Painters like Fechin,Antonio Mancini,Ayami Kojima,have these roughness to them that I quite enjoy,hell for a while (and actually to this day since I enter the stylize portrait contest) I painted in a portrait fechin style before stopping and becoming more of a narrative painter.
As for the question of how I did my paintings,well I ussually get an idea (or actually sometime a feeling) and then I would try to put that idea/feeling to a sketch as fast as possible.Then I would use a stump kinda like Eliza Ivanova and block out the value (Here's a video https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca7bdzOlOJ6/ that may explain it better)Then when I'm ready I would use watercolor/gouache to add color,from there's it's a free for all,Acrylic modeling paste,watermixable oil,crayon,color pencil,digital anything that will make it better/stand out more I'll use.(I also have an Andrew Wyeth painting open up in my tab to keep me anchor to the kind of feeling I want)
I'll also add,that ussually(since I do fanart) i would think of the character I want to paint and make them go through scenario in my head.Then I would pick the scenario that would make the most interesting to look at (Kinda like how an author pick the most interesting scenario to put their character in)
But anyway,that's pretty much it,I hope that kinda answear your question.Thank you again for asking that,I've been having a couple of rough days and that really brighten me up :D
(Also thanks for the feedback!)
P.s. also also here's my instagram https://www.instagram.com/confusepainting/
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2yr
Update:In the end I made a third variation,though I actually like this one the most out of all the one I made.I was inspired when I saw bernie fuchs painting and decide to incoporate how he jam his figure into a corner.But I still would love some critique,if anything in the picture isn't working,please tell me! :D (Also I forgot to do this before but @Christopher Beaven @squeen any thoughts?)
Hey Paper! I love that your putting up work regularly, this is how you get good fast. :)
What is the story you're trying to tell here? Let that inform your composition.
The first thing I struggle with when looking at this painting is trying to figure out what is going on. There are a lot of expressive brushwork giving the painting a chaotic feel which I like, but the center of interest is confusing. I can see the face, I'm almost positive its a girl, she has a crown and I think that she has wings, but I'm not certain.
I also feel that the page could be filled with values that would support your story and an indication of lighting.
What is interesting here is that I'm struggling with the same thing. I paint figures but there is no story and I'm looking deep into concept artists like @Dom Lay and how they establish a scene, mood and story with light.
Sorry, hope that isn't too harsh but I feel that you're working so hard I don't want to just give you reassurance alone. I want to give you some critical feedback that will help you grow as an artist.
You keep putting up the paintings and I'll give my honest opinion :)
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