Glint of Gold, 24 x 24, oil on canvas, L. Daniel © 2020
Hello friends! Welcome back to Fix It Friday! I hope you are all staying well and finding peace in these challenging times. This pastoral walk down a favorite Texas trail gives me that little getaway that seems SO needed right now. I painted it earlier in the spring when the wildflowers were out, and have been stewing over it ever since, up on the drying shelf... something was bothering me...
BEFORE
AFTER
CHANGES
Problem - The prominent oak tree in the middle ground appeared choked and flat.
Fix - Removed mass of bushes at base of tree to visually free it up.
Fix - Separated layers in middle ground to increase space and depth.
OBSERVATIONS
Layers always add an illusion of depth. Separating out several layers in the middle ground area, added to the overall sense of distance. I always like the idea of being able to go further "in" to the scene! PAINTERS! Join me at PleinAir LIVE!!
I am teaching in the PRE-event Beginners Workshop (July 14) on "How Painting Outdoors Differs from Painting Indoors, and Overcoming the Obstacles", AND "The Basics of Oil Painting". It will be a fruitful and fun time!
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6 comments:
Lovely! This is the best fix yet! Such a gift to be able to determine what was needed..
Hi Laurel... Love that you do these "fix it" postings... always so helpful and enlightening. Question... Was the 'before' painting done en plein air? And if so, do you notice that many of the plein air works seem dark when taken indoors? I'm finding that to be the case with my own work, and wondering if it's just a normal adjustment plein air painters need to remember, work a bit lighter, OR if my eyesight is to blame(cataracts)to some extent. I tend to need bright sunlight on my canvases and palette to see well, and know that's not good. Your opinion?
Maren
Love Fix It Fridays. I always learn a lot and love love love this painting.
Beautiful fix it!
Thank you, Trisha, Maren, Sharon and Penny!!!! I love hearing from you!
Maren, the answers your questions, with a little explanation...
1) No - The original painting was not painted en plein air. However, the original photo was taken by a different camera, and that is what caused the overall coloration/contrast differences. The only physical changes to actual color in the painting were in the ground plane area under the main tree.
(Side note: first photo by traditional SLR, second photo by IPhone!)
2) Yes - I do think that plein air paintings that are painted in direct sunlight often come out darker. The harsh light makes the paint appear lighter than it is, and we tend to compensate. My answer is always stand in the shade OR bring an umbrella. Love the ShadeBuddy for fixing in the ground, or the EasyL for clipping on my pochade.
Thanks so much, Laurel...
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