I'm not completely happy with the way this one turned out. I like the light source mysteriously emitting light from within the trees and the mood created by the expression on the giant.
The biggest hurdle I'm dealing with is the drying time. "Fat over lean" is really slow for me, so I'm going to try an acrylic underpainting with flat colors as a base next time. The layering and layering and layering kinda limits how much I can accomplish in one sitting. And doing "Alla prima" all at once with no mixing is beyond my experience at this point. I've heard of painters combining acrylic underneath oil, so we'll see what happens!
7 comments:
I don't know if you are interested but I have used the water based oils which dry much faster and have more flexibility than acrylics.I feel like I'm painting with plastic with acrylics. They have some small kits of them that you could try out and see if you like.
Your use of light is nice in this piece.
Thanks, Patti. You may be on to something here...definitely worth giving a shot.
I used to use oils way back when. They had a drying media you could add to the paints which made them dry faster. Might check into that to see if they still do.
Or you might try guoache. It layers like oils but is a water based paint. I find it to be a bit on the chalky side instead of the bright colors I like in watercolor.
my only complaint is that I'd like to see a bigger version of the painting!
I like how it turned out. I like the expression on the giant as well as his shape and pose. And the trees turned out very nice as well as the grass. And why can't the sun be in the sky on that side of the trees?
I've always been terribly impatient with the painting media. That's why all my current stuff is in Photoshop - because I don't have all that time to set up, paint, wait, paint, wait and paint some more.
How are you with watercolor? When I do paint I usually go that direction with dr martin water color dyes - they're better than other water color types because of how vivid the colors can be.
You should check out www.nineteeneightyeight.com - it's a gallery here in los angeles and the artists usually use either oils or acrylics - but they do such incredible and amazing things with them - one gal (alessandra Fusi) uses acrylic, watercolor, gouache and ink all in the same illustration - but it ends up looking incredible.
Anyway - as far as drying time - when I was deep into real painting I would work on several pieces at once - so that way, while one was drying, you could work on another piece.
I don't know if any of that helps - but there you go.
Watercolor and I are not friends. We fight too much and I always end up walking out of the room mad. I've tried them and have great respect for those who can pull it off (like our members here).
I got Photoshop CS5 about a month ago, but am without the Intuos so I'll definitely be doing some experimenting.
I also appreciate the feedback on other medium. Turns out I may not need to go that route just yet. I tried the acrylic underpaint on illustration board with my first layer of oil tonight. I'm pleased with the result. The color building is much faster now.
I'll also take the advice on working on multiple images. I'm one of those guys who likes to sit and paint for hours and hours with few breaks (I had to learn to be that way to finish my first book on time).
Thanks everyone!
I think this came out great. The shadows are convincing and the gras has a very nice feel to it. Your doing really good work.
Thanks, Steve.
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