Field of Cactus, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2020
Texas cactus! It's beautiful, especially when it blooms and... it's very invasive. Once it gets started, it just duplicates itself over and over. If an "ear" falls off, stick it in the ground and it will happily survive, grow, and spread!! All that to say, my fix today is all about better depicting ranch land full of propagated cactus.
BEFORE
AFTER
CHANGES
Problem - Layers of cactus were not "laying down" on the picture plane.
Fix - Created a definitive scale shift from front to back, making layers incrementally smaller as they move into the distance.
Fix - Muted layers incrementally as they recede.
Problem - Field just didn't have enough cactus!!
Fix - Added another layer of cactus at the fence line.
Problem - Overcast sky was lack-luster in color and interest.
Fix - Intensified the purplish color that was there and popped the bit of light.
OBSERVATIONS
Working with elements in the landscape to push them into the distance is a great challenge. Today's fix was a wonderful exercise in doing just that... scale shift, atmospheric perspective, overlapping, and layering were all used here.
2 comments:
It's such a learning exercise scrolling back and forth between the before and the after photos. I love how the temp shift and the added grassland in-between the 2 groupings really set them back. Such a small change can make such a huge difference.
Thank you, Sharon!! Creating "space" was my goal with this exercise, so I love hearing that!!! :)
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