Well, I think it looks pretty good. Even if it wasn’t in the direction you expected it to go. I think we’re talking about the length of the brushstrokes. It makes a big difference in whether it’s more impressionistic with almost points of lights or if it’s a different style. I often think it’s great that people try to work looser or different than what they’re used to. Some of us really tighten up. I’m one of them. I think what might be a big help is to find examples of artwork that is the direction you’re hoping to go. I would be interested seeing that. Often our paintings go in different directions and that’s not necessarily a bad thing at all. But if you’re trying to go in a specific direction, it’s good to keep examples in front of you. I like the painting. I have a hard time with my landscapes at times that it doesn’t quite look real in some places. I keep an album of artwork of artists works that are successful in different styles. I use it for inspiration and I study it. Doesn’t mean I always get there. Because sometimes we just have to do our own thing and we create something completely different. But still, having some examples in front of you can greatly help.
Hi Paintboss, I spent some time over thinking, and didn't get far.....
I am not sure where i want to go, also, I don´t have a preconceived plan. The dailys are meant to force me to paint. As I run out of subjects, ideas etc, I have to experiment.... Influences, well, being Aussie, the Heidelberg School of Streeton, Roberts, John Russell, and many of the same.
I also find American and European artists of the same era also ring for me. Not that I want to paint like them, but more to "see" like them. I would like to see and depict "light" so that it resonates, there is a natural sense of rightness when a piece does that at least for me, its a "zenish thing", I believe style, does not necessarily alter that. I am acutely aware that my drawing skills limit me, along with a diminishing number of years to experiment.
"If" I have a hidden style, it will emerge. I never attended art school and am mostly self taught but have had the good luck to have some fine artist mentors. BUT, does it make sense that at great as Monet (the God) was, I find many other works superior in the way they portray the sense of a place and that moment of light ..... I "like" some Monets, but others, meh..... blasphemy I know.
So, I guess I am at heart an "imperfect impressionist" looking to be better.
I do not want to be photo realist, infact looseness to me, helps capture a momentary sense of place, time an light.
I do not want to begin with an abstraction and have something emerge, I would rather take a scene and explore, if that makes sense.
Abstraction is useful in my exercises as it is teaching me balance and composition, but at heart, I want to point at a place and express it.
So, Im sorry I cannot be more concise over what I am aiming at, but I think you will get the idea.
I wish I knew where I was going though.....