Across the paddocks

[MurrayG]

Hi Folks. Happy safe, healthy and successful New Year.
Just finished this soft pastels on Canson MT smoothside 30x42 cm - mostly Rembranndts and some Sennelier.
From a photo I took in the Canberra area (Australia). Some from WC may remember an earlier version but on gyprock plasterboard a way back I have overworked some areas and know I can do better. I am considering repeating the painting as its for a family member. The greens are not quite true in the photo as the mobile kinda doesnt get the colours as you can tell from the "white" mask.
Ive tweeked a bit to correct but - Meh. Anyways, I am curious what others think. Where is your focal point for instance?

 

[Enyaw]

I like the color used .. as for focal point, you need to ask yourself .. what is it and what does each piece of the painting do to help the viewer reach it.

 

[MurrayG]

I like the color used .. as for focal point, you need to ask yourself .. what is it and what does each piece of the painting do to help the viewer reach it.

Thanks Wayne. Yes, I have my idea of the FP but its not what I call typical/obvious, that why I asked

 

[Donna T]

Hmm ... I see the big tree to the left of center as being the FP, Murray. This is nice, such an expansive view and feeling of having that quiet space to oneself. I wonder if you couldn't knock down a fence post or two and make some kind of diagonal path from the right to the left, maybe going toward whichever tree you think is the most important. If you muted the value of the distant posts you might add to the sense of depth. Just thinking out loud - it's very nice as is!

 

[MurrayG]

Hmm ... I see the big tree to the left of center as being the FP, Murray. This is nice, such an expansive view and feeling of having that quiet space to oneself. I wonder if you couldn't knock down a fence post or two and make some kind of diagonal path from the right to the left, maybe going toward whichever tree you think is the most important. If you muted the value of the distant posts you might add to the sense of depth. Just thinking out loud - it's very nice as is!

Hi Donna, thanks for that input. Ive been looking at the fence wondering what was not right and the depth is the answer, thanks.
I had also considered a second fenceline (that is not in the photo) but Hey
Hmm - you are giving me ideas for the second painting.

 

[Enyaw]

Yes, I have my idea of the FP but its not what I call typical/obvious

Actually I do not see a focal point, and that was why I asked you the same question. Your fence post seem to be of equal spacing and in the distance, that is not what happens. Donna is on about the value and color. Each piece should help the viewer get where you want them to be. You don't really need one point of interest but you do need the truth of dimension and value to put the viewer in the painting. Enjoy. It's a good piece with a few adjustments.

 

[Sanlynn]

Nice work and I agree with the above suggestions. It's very helpful to read what people think.

 

[MurrayG]

Actually I do not see a focal point, and that was why I asked you the same question. Your fence post seem to be of equal spacing and in the distance, that is not what happens. Donna is on about the value and color. Each piece should help the viewer get where you want them to be. You don't really need one point of interest but you do need the truth of dimension and value to put the viewer in the painting. Enjoy. It's a good piece with a few adjustments.

Hi Wayne, yes I do see what you mean. On the original, to me its better defined but still not sharp. Donna was right in a way, that is wha I had intended. BUT - here is the thing - my eye runs down the fence to the trees then across the last three trees to the hills where there is on the actual painting, shadows in the valley that creates another weak FP (to me). My problem was - and maybe thats a factor of the weak FP/s, is my eye continued up the hills to the far top right ridge... Thats why I asked, to see if others had the same problem.
So - in a way we have identified my issue - "my" FP is too weak and I need to fix it - probably not the Turner red dot fix though
Thanks heaps.

 

[Terri]

Murray, I enjoy this painting for the sense of space and distance it has. In that regard, I agree with Donna's suggestions about the values of the more distant posts, as well as possibly the most distant hills.

Paintings like this only need strong diagonal lines and a good sense of depth to make me happy. I love the diagonal from your crooked little fence posts, and the slight curve of your horizon. I would be interested in seeing what you may do with a second painting.

 

[Artyczar]

I really like the painting. It is very symmetrical however, and so doesn't really have a focal point in my opinion. It's still beautiful, but maybe breaking up the trees a little could make it more dynamic and give it more interest. Just a suggestion.

Can you please spell out "Wet Canvas" instead of using "WC?" Please see the About page. Sorry to have to keep having to mention this to some of you. I don't want to sound like some kind of rule-pusher, but...

 

[MurrayG]

Hi Folks, having sat looking at this painting and digesting input, I have made a few small changes. Fenceline is better defined and fades into distance, a midground focal point in front of the left tree helps draw the eye and slightly better defined pasture horizon at the treeline and a few small changes on the hills. Better, but will now focus on the new drawing / thanks

 

[Enyaw]

Come on Murray and show us the new pic

 

[MurrayG]

Hi Wayne. Well this is the updated painting. The phone does not capture the greens or golds well, sorry.
Re the new painting, its a WIP and only just past the blocking in of the main features. Hang in there

 

[snoball]

The painting is beautiful, I love it. My only problem with the focal point is that the fence and the line between the field and the hills both run out of the picture on the right and they just lead your eyes off the painting. I think if there were some more trees next to the big tree connecting it as a grouping to the smaller trees just to the left, making it a larger mass, it would show that as a focal point. Just ruminating here, it is a lovely painting and will be well received by the recipient.

 

[Donna T]

There's much more depth with the changes in the fence posts. I look forward to the next version, Murray. It's certainly a beautiful subject and worthy of several interpretations.

 

[MurrayG]

The painting is beautiful, I love it. My only problem with the focal point is that the fence and the line between the field and the hills both run out of the picture on the right and they just lead your eyes off the painting. I think if there were some more trees next to the big tree connecting it as a grouping to the smaller trees just to the left, making it a larger mass, it would show that as a focal point. Just ruminating here, it is a lovely painting and will be well received by the recipient.

Thanks Sno. As always, your thoughts are useful.

 

[MurrayG]

There's much more depth with the changes in the fence posts. I look forward to the next version, Murray. It's certainly a beautiful subject and worthy of several interpretations.

Thanks Donna, the trick will be stopping from overworking the surface this time. I got caught up with the tree foliage and following corrections. Learnt a lot.
All the comments have been useful from you, Sno and Wayne etc. I am not a realist and am more that happy to edit a scene to suit composition. However, this is a classic stretch of farmland from the road that locals "know". I would have put the "Turner" dot to represent a homestead or sheds, but I know someone would say - "but theres no house there!!". So, sometimes I am caught between composition and recording a scene.
I am writing "memoirs" of my farm childhood. The farm has been taken over by plantation trees. I am acutely aware of the change of reality between then and now, and a grudging need to "record" not perfectly, but as Wayne says - an interpretation that represents the reality.
Thanks for all inputs.

 

[P. Barrie]

I know I’m late with this, but anyway. I like the overall composition and your handling of the grasses/meadow. To give more illusion of depth, perhaps adjust/lighten values and reduce chroma of receding trees and midground hills, as the values of those look equal to the foreground trees. This could also make the foreground trees more of a focal point. Sometimes I convert the pic of the painting to Black & white to check values.

 

[MurrayG]

I know I’m late with this, but anyway. I like the overall composition and your handling of the grasses/meadow. To give more illusion of depth, perhaps adjust/lighten values and reduce chroma of receding trees and midground hills, as the values of those look equal to the foreground trees. This could also make the foreground trees more of a focal point. Sometimes I convert the pic of the painting to Black & white to check values.

Hi, thanks for that. I do see what you mean. I can work on that for the second iteration. Thanks.

 

[Jo Castillo]

I love the golden grasses in this. Very serene and I feel the sense of farm.