Dor's Oranges third try

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Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on March 22, 2012 at 23:02

Dor, very seriously, Richard was not being facetious. The striped background gives great visual interest to your work. Do not be so hard on yourself; your setup and that wall in the reference photo was nicely composed. Your painting had good color harmony. The problem was minor and one of value mismatch; the dark stripes on the wall in the lighted area should have been washed out by the light and the light areas should be at least one value darker than the pitcher. It just reads better that way because the stripes have such strong visual impact. Give it another try. I was the one being facetious, but I was quite serious about not throwing away your work that you can still learn something from, if only by comparing it to future work. Smiles! Stu

Comment by Dorian Aronson on March 22, 2012 at 21:29

Hello Stu

Richard was just being facetious I am sure!  I laughed about his remark!  It is 3:30 AM and I am exhausted. Another really bad painting day. Right now I am going to clean up and go to bed...........I am not smiling :((

I did look at Matisse's work and I did see some  similarity but it was pure accident! 

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on March 22, 2012 at 17:04

Dor, go figure, huh? Richard really liked your Matisse background; I did too, and I just wanted you to kill the contrast some so that it did not compete with your focal point. Well, since practice makes perfect, your next one willbe terrific. Google Matisse and look at his work before you finish and paint this next one on something that won't go in your garbage. Stu

Comment by Richard Robinson on March 22, 2012 at 13:41

ooh yeah I love the idea of the striped background! Gotta get me some of that.

Comment by Dorian Aronson on March 18, 2012 at 10:56

Hi Stu

As for the painting, it is in the garbage.  I will take the photo of it and try doing what you just said, but I do not know photo shop well enough .........but I will go and give it a try.  Thank you so much for helping me learn..........dor:)))  PS  I will not give up, I am enjoying playing with paint and being a member of this group.........

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on March 18, 2012 at 10:55

Dor, go get it out of the garbage and save it to compare; it is not that bad.  I am sending you a rework I just tried to do with Photoshop Elements (I am not very good with this either), with the 4 value B&W and the Notan, before and after.  You will get it as a message in your inbox. I hope it helps.  When you take a photo of your setup, it really helps to print it out in black and white or posterize it; this is what Richard was pushing us to do in the landscape workshops.  Stu

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on March 18, 2012 at 9:36

Dor, I know how frustrating this is.  Take you painting and change it to a black and white or just print it out on a laser printer in black and white.  Stare at the focal point and squint a little.  See what tries to grab your eye and take it away from the focal point and why.   In this case the orange on the right and the very bold stripes in the background really pull you away from the focal point and compete for attention.  You could keep both if you kill the contrast and darken them.  The very strong color contrast between your pitcher and the part of the orange in the light and between your dark fabric and the pitcher are great, but you have set up a competing area that grabs the eye.  If you want to salvage things put a little liquin on the completely dry paint and try some glazing of darks and scumbling of lights over your background and the right hand orange.  If you like it, then keep it and if not, wipe it off.  Alternatively print this out with a color printer and work on it with some colored pencils or other media or work it out in photoshop or gimp.  The composition is fine and your color is good.  The main problem is your values.  Whatever you do, do not give up!   Stu

Comment by Dorian Aronson on March 18, 2012 at 9:24

Thank you for telling me Stu......I see what you mean.........going to play with it some more and get rid of the stripes............too tired to paint today.............smiles to you Stu.......dor:))

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on March 18, 2012 at 2:18

Dor, the sharp lines and bold stripes in your background suck your eyes right over to it and avoid your objects of interest. That'tps why most successfully still life backgrounds are very simple, very abstract, very low contrast, very unsaturated (dull colors) and either much darker or much lighter than your still life objects. Stu