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EMAIL CRITIQUE
An artist from Sri Lanka requested a critique of his work. Here's the result:
 Prints
now at |
I am deeply grateful for your prompt and
favorable reply. Thank you warmly for your kindness. My pleasure. My hope is not to show you the 'right' way to paint or what you should have done on these two. I'd like to make a few suggestions for you to consider in future paintings. You have made very good progress in the past fifteen years. You're able to achieve a convincing illusion of reality with paint...not so easy to do! Judging by the two you have sent and looking over your website, I think you are ready for a big step forward. I do not make preliminary sketches or detail drawings.
I suggest you consider adding
a planning step to your painting process. For a major studio painting I'll
often sketch out ideas and variations to explore all the possibilities of
the subject. From the proportions of the canvas to the value/shape
arrangement to the color scheme. This can go on for days or months
sometimes as I leave it and come back until it finally clicks. The
beginner spends 10% of his time planning and 90% painting, the master does
just the opposite. To really grasp this point try doing a large painting,
say 30x40" or larger.
For on location painting I
like to do at least three thumbnail sketches. The first one is what I
would have painted. Almost always the other two are better. These can be
very quickly done in pencil with three or four values only...no details.
You might try working in black and white on
location, either oils or charcoal/marker/conte, with notes and photos.
Return to the studio and begin painting from memory without looking at
your reference material. Go as far as you can before looking and then only
to answer a specific question.
Your painting is not out there on location or in
your photograph. What matters in a painting comes from the mind and heart
of the artist.
I generally begin by accurately measuring and drawing the outlines of the main shapes and lightly blocking in their values, edges and colours starting from top to bottom, background of sky and distant objects through middle ground and finally what is close up in the foreground. I then proceed to build up details generally finishing the prominent shapes with the correct colour, values and edges that I see. You are getting pretty good at this. You can report what you see very accurately. Do you think mere reporting will take the viewer to a different level? Where is the sublime painting that only reports the facts? The viewer wants to feel something. If your work makes them feel something then it is art in the truest sense. Art is about emotion. Why is it you want to make paintings in the first place? My guess is somewhere years ago you saw a painting and it moved you. You were amazed to learn such a thing was possible. How can paint and canvas make people feel something deeply? That is the goal of the would be artist...finding the answer to that question. Technical excellence is part of the equation. It is surprising how little of that is needed so long as the emotion is there. My goal is to strive for technical excellence to the best of my knowledge and experience, and what I am trying to accomplish is to be as good a painter as any. In this Endeavour I have profited from books, periodicals, DVD's of some of the world's leading artists, the internet, and when I was younger visiting art exhibitions, galleries and museums mainly in Europe and the USA. The greatest drawback I think for artists in countries like Sri Lanka is the almost total lack of museums and galleries that exhibit fine art. That's true. We have the internet and books, but they only hint at the power of the original. Have you ever just played with your paints? Sort of the opposite of striving for technical excellence. Strive for fun. Experiment. Have no goal in mind but to discover what you can do with paint. Choose colors because you like them. Add colors because they look good with what is already there. Use a brush, a knife, a rag. Put it on, wipe it off. An image might emerge at some point or might not. You may discover things to use in your next painting! I believe the most important characteristic for any work of art is to be able take you to a different level, from an ordinary state to the sublime so to speak. That's it. See remarks about emotion above.
I will be very glad if you can give answers to the
following questions: Generally, it's best to maintain the same prices everywhere, at least for 'gallery' quality work. If it can be called a study or a sketch pricing can vary. Your collectors need to know you're not undercutting the value of what they have already bought. 02) How can you restore faded paintings (that are about ten years old) probably exposed to sunlight? If the paint has actually faded then remove the varnish and repaint, perhaps with glazes. You need to visit Sri Lanka and will be most welcome! It was glorious sunshine all through the day till late afternoon when there was a thunderstorm that stopped almost as soon as it started. Thanks! Sounds beautiful. Maybe someday. PAINTING 1
A good painting just as it is. Panoramic, quiet sky and water, all the interest on the far bank. You've said one thing and stopped. Good control of color and value. Atmospheric perspective techniques used effectively. You've captured the day. Things to think about: 1. The effect on the viewer of your abstract composition, shapes and values. This is what strikes the viewer first and most powerfully because it is subliminal.
This is your painting simplified to just four shapes and two values. No subject matter, no detail, no color. The eye tends to go to the center and stay there with quick glances to either side, then back. Not many would attempt this composition because you have five strikes against you: The focal point is in the center, the horizon is dead center, all four corners are the same and empty, the sky and water areas are nearly the same size and color... and mid-day sun. Almost a minimalist painting. I wonder if you did this on purpose? Or did it just happen? If you consciously intended this effect then disregard this next section. It could be more interesting I think with a little more contrast and cropping. 2. One Idea
Crop so that the focal point is at a one third spot, water much bigger than the sky, gradation of value from foreground to add to the sense of depth, add a few white lines in the distant water, increase the saturation of the small structure, darken the tree line to create separation between it and the nearer trees, and it and the mountains. 3. Another idea
Crop to remove most of the water area, add more interest to the sky careful not to compete with the center of interest, move the small structure to the left so the line of the mountain leads the eye down to it, darken the tree line, add a little sparkle to the water. Shadows are more interesting before ten in the morning and after two in the afternoon. Backlighting is also worth trying for the dramatic lights and darks you'll see. Painting 2
Not as simplified as the first one. Lot of texture everywhere. I'm not feeling the power and drama of the falls. I see it's there but I don't really feel it. The foreground foliage is very interesting, so is the far bank on the right, and the misty distance with houses. The falls are just barely holding their own. I have a few ideas:
This appears to be a beautiful spot. Obviously the falls is what the painting should be about. How best to communicate your feeling as you stand there soaking it in. You have a lot in the picture that has nothing really to do with the falls, in fact, it is distracting. All that foliage has been rendered with lots of texture which is calling attention to itself and away from the falls. My thought was to simplify and eliminate...always a good idea! First I cropped it way down to just the falls. I made the top of the falls horizontal and lowered the point of view. I also stretched the falls vertically to make them more impressive. The foreground bushes have been blurred, darkened and made cooler. The far bushes have been made cooler and grayer. Now I have more variety in my greens. The interest is clearly on the falls. Finally, I darkened the left hand falls so that the right hand is dominant. Nature almost never presents us with a ready made composition. It requires some mental gymnastics to tune out all the static and focus on the real issue. You must understand that painting is very much a two dimensional design problem. It is more important to get the arrangement of shapes and values that you are inventing for the painting right than to get the color of the water as it appears in nature. Get the value right and most any color will do. Tell me if this was helpful, I hope so. All the best, Bob Sri Lankan Reply: Bob,
Thanks a million for your invaluable help and
advice which is much appreciated. It is the first time I have received a
serious and unbiased review of any of my paintings and happy to know I am on
the right path after all! I needed the encouragement and will try to forge
ahead with renewed resolve.
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