Clanger revised

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Comment by Jon Main on October 10, 2013 at 8:43

OK, Stu - sounds all good!!! - let's see what we can do/what happens! Preciate it!

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on October 10, 2013 at 7:58

Jon, I live abour 15 miles from San Francisco, in Marin County, just North of the Golden Gate Bridge and have a four bedroom house with a great view.  It's just my wife and I.  Kids are all gone.   If you are interested in coming to the West Coast you are welcome to stay with us, and I might be very interested in a house swap.  I would have to tune up my French a bit, but I've done that before, and unless you are in Paris (just like New York) people don't ignore you if your French is pathetic.   Keep up all the hard work.  Try this to see if it helps: take your saturated yellow off your palette and substitue yellow ochre.  Several years ago while I was taking a plein air workshop the instructor told me that I wasn't warming things up by using Cad Yellow Light and to take it off my palette and use a warmer yellow--it worked--at least partially, because I am painting warmer.   Actually the warmest color is considered to be a yellow orange by some people and warm red by others.     Stu

Comment by Jon Main on October 10, 2013 at 7:40

PS Stu - I've never been to the States!!! Anyone from New England way  want to do a house swop - I live on a Provencal village square...

Comment by Jon Main on October 10, 2013 at 7:26

Thanks Michael and Manneherrin. Christine - good points - ta! (you reckon I've progressed? - that would be good news!). Stu, thanks for taking the time - this warm/cool // saturated/unsaturated problem is a killer - I think a lot of people instinctively like warm and saturated. Your painting of this scene is very nice indeed. I've got all these paintings I keep coming back to/redoing anew!!!

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on October 10, 2013 at 4:36

Jon, Christine's comments are right on the mark.  If this painting is completely dry, you can do some glazing and scumbling to fix the background.  You told me a while back that my paintings were very much on the cool side and you were absolutely correct; well, you have too much yelllow in your paintings and need to settle it down.   The best way is to use its complement (violet) mixed with white to soften your yellows in the background.  Desaturating, lightening and removing yellows (or enhancing blues and violets) gives that atmospheric perspective you need for the 3d effects.  Except at the two ends of the day, you will never have that much yellow.  Another way to do this if you don't want to risk ruining your painting and don't know how to do this in Photoshop is to cover the painting with kitchen wrap (polyester--leading brand in US is "Saran").  Then glaze and scumble and paint on this and photograph it; take some notes as you go and then salvage the painting.   Do not throw this in the "burn pile".   It looks like you used Jessica Futerman's reference photo as I did; here's my painting from the same photo http://thecompleteartist.ning.com/photo/climbing-nob-hill?context=user  .  You can see that my painting is mostly grays with some color splashes and maybe a bit cool for your taste but all my yellows (not many of them) in the foreground disappear as you go back in the picture.  You drawing, composition and values are fine; it's your color that is off.  I like the name "Clanger"; you must have had a ride on one of these to know what they sound like.     Stu

Comment by Christine Kirton on October 9, 2013 at 10:25

Jon potentially great........ But.... The atmospheric perspective of the middle ground sea, and the far ground shore are wrong. Carefully adjustment of value and brushwork are the answer. I would also remove so many yachts, they detract from the foreground. Maybe leave a couple close to the far shore to add to the atmospheric perspective. I commend you on your patience for the fantastic detail and light in the foreground. Play with the image in Photoshop before you head for the canvas ;-) rather than risking the destruction of a potentially great painting. Well done Jon, impressed how far you have progressed over the last 18 months :-)

Comment by Manneherrin on October 9, 2013 at 9:56

the shadow/light ratio.. is awesome.. it has a calm feel to for me.. love the wires and the tail lights.  Just fade the distant hill and water line and put some indication of a few windows on the light up buildings and this will be perfect IMO.. love this painting

Comment by Michael Chomse on October 9, 2013 at 8:49

This is really cool. The ocean has problems. Agreed. But the rest... speaks volumes. You want to stop, but don't. Push it a little further.

Comment by Jon Main on October 9, 2013 at 8:43

Thanks, Jim, I used Zbukvik to inspire me - wonderful painter. Well it could be ocean sbetter - but at least I worked out the sort of direction I wanted to go (foregpund in shadow + sparkling overhead wires) - it was bugging me! I always wonder how much one brings from all the other paintings/images one's seen - stocked in one's brain. Here, I knew, but unintentional plagiarism is so likely to occur. Ah well, it don't matter much at my level!!!

Comment by Jim Haycock on October 9, 2013 at 7:50

Jon, this is cool!  It's got some of that 3D stuff going on again like that other one of yours.  This is a fascinating scene and very interesting. I especially like that light on the street car and on the road just behind it along with those highlights down on the lower end of the street.