beach value study_edited-1

Planning a painting and trying to work out the composition and values..im seeing this as a diagonal cross --not sure if this can be seen as a ess? the light on the dunes is my focal point.

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Comment by Lori Ippolito on August 26, 2016 at 16:21: I think the wet foreground sand may be detracting from the dunes a little - may tone down the value especially to the right side - make it more irregular..always easier to see issues once I get a painting on the screen!!

Comment by Lori Ippolito on August 26, 2016 at 16:19: It's been a while but I finally was able to get back to this painting..Actually yesterday (8/24) was my birthday and my gift to me was to spend the day at the easel:)..worked on it again tonight and will leave it a few days to get a fresh look at it..

Comment by Lori Ippolito on August 15, 2016 at 16:20: Thanks Michael!! Fingers crossed!!! Hoping to get started tomorrow:)

Comment by Michael J. Severin on August 15, 2016 at 16:14: Very nice job, Lori. If you are satisfied with how the color scheme works, the shapes, movement, and value plan ... then proceed on to your painting. Note how your foreground just pops so nicely ... it is all about the values. Can't wait to see your painting.

Comment by Lori Ippolito on August 15, 2016 at 14:32: i have done a color study -- gosh I have SUCH a hard time staying away from detail!!!

Comment by Michael J. Severin on August 15, 2016 at 6:18: Now do a small ..color study to see if if they will work. Do this with flat poster like shapes ...absolutely no detail. ... not even waves .. just the flat large shapes .. don't even bother with edges ...You are just trying out color shapes ...

Comment by Michael J. Severin on August 15, 2016 at 5:39: Yes, my friend ... that is your painting! ... that large way shape on the beach .. that might be a little much .. reduce that to a smaller stream like shape .. make it pretty thin .. you don't want a lot of stuff happening down on the beach .. all the action is in the foreground.

Comment by Lori Ippolito on August 15, 2016 at 4:01: I think this is better!! If I was in your live class I think I'd have gotten thirty lashes by now!!!

Comment by Lori Ippolito on August 15, 2016 at 1:34: Thought I was being smart and dropped the source to two values to get a better look at the foreground shadows!! It picked up all that ...mess!! Should be an easy fix:)) So much for that and back to trusting my eyes !! Lol...got a bit carried away with details as usual!! I need to put up a sign that says LESS IS MORE!!! Back to the drawing board!

Comment by Michael J. Severin on August 14, 2016 at 18:18: Your background water looks fine ... your foreground shadow patterns, on the other hand, are too fractured and busy. You want a simple, but interesting shadow pattern with the lines of the posts that are somewhere out of the picture .. stage right. The shadow pattern at the lower right corner is good .. the other shadow pattern looks to complicated and messy ... get rid of the heavy look and just project the elongated shadows of off stage posts. ... angle them toward your focal point. Then make a few post shadows (fence rails?) angling the other way .. that is what I see in your photo ... not the solid shape with all those holes that you put in. BTW, this is just a value sketch of your major shapes .. don't worry about small stuff like waves .. just indicate your water with one value that best represents the whole shape. No small shapes or detail of any kind, just your simplified foreground, middle ground, and background large shapes. When you paint the painting, you will do the same thing with your block in ... large, simplified shapes first .. then smaller shapes within the larger shapes (like waves) ... and then more smaller shapes ... the more smaller shapes you go, the more detail. BUT, keep in mind that less is better.