Mina

[Grapes]

"Mina", oil on canvas board, 30x40 cm.
Painted from my own photo. The greens were challenging. Also had hard time deciding what to add to the front area as it's just grass and some rocks; maybe should have added a burro there. (It only occurred to me now when writing this.) The village full name is Villanueva del Rio y Minas and it's located in Andalucia, Spain.

I also did a quick study for an alla prima challenge of this peculiar bridge. Oil on oilpaper, 18x24 cm.
(Sorry for the blurry photo)

 

[Joy]

Absolutely beautiful! Wonderful colors and overall effect. Trees frame the bridge well.

 

[Donna T]

I agree with Joy! You did such good work on these, Grapes! Foregrounds are so difficult because we need to put things there but we don’t want viewers to spend much time there. You have a beautiful variety of greens and textures too. I like the fresh feel of the study very much!

 

[Enyaw]

That's a lot of material for an artist to take in. Good job. Maybe you should reverse your thinking and think what can I leave out.

 

[Grapes]

Thanks so much Joy, Donna and Wayne!

I might repeat painting another one of this scene next winter. I feel my painting is kinda busy and too sharp edges in many places. Ha, I had a big fight with the front area grass, returned several times to paint it and finally decided it's done, time to move on.

 

[snoball]

Excellent work!

 

[Grapes]

Thank you, Sno!

 

[Donna T]

I’ve been thinking about what you said about sharp edges when working from photos, Grapes, because I really fight them too. I’m going to try to blur my photos next time to see if it helps. Maybe I can decide where the edges should be sharp - not the camera.

 

[JennieJo]

So glad you gave us a close-up of the bridge. The picture you've painted captures something special. Wonderful.

 

[Joy]

I find it exceedingly difficult to decide what to omit. This is especially true if one is painting a recognized landmark and does not want to do too much alteration. The bridge and the way it is framed is very appealing. To me, it seems as if the towers behind the bridge could be eliminated so as not to distract from the subject. And maybe the periphery of the gray green tree to the viewer's right of the bridge could be less defined against the sky. But that is being picky.

 

[Grapes]

@Donna T I wasn't joking about adding "burro" (a donkey) there in the front area: there was a donkey actually! He's really cute. I took a photo of him.
Your right about the front areas in paintings. They are so challenging. That's a good point the front area shouldn't attract all the viewer's attention! I never thought of it that way!

@JennieJo thanks. I enjoyed painting that bridge in alla prima. Sometimes, actually often, it feels good to paint quick ones and not to worry so much of outcome.

@Joy thank you so much for your valuable observations!
The towers play important role in this painting because they give the name for this village. Without them there wouldn't be existing this place at all. But .. I could have moved them somehow hide them little bit behind the branch or low down the value so that they would hide better to the bg.
For example, I posted this painting to FB and my father-in-law saw it there (we follow each other in FB) so he's an old man and was born in this village and worked with his father in the factory/mine to which the towers belong. He would ask me 'where are the towers' and if they weren't there it wouldn't look ok to him, l think. For that reason I wanted them in no matter what.
The grey green tree was a "big fight", too. I was trying to paint it green, many times, but ran out of greens. That's why it's grey
I don't plan to change this painting but paint a new one. Thanks so much for your thoughts, they are the most helpful. Gave me a lot to think.

 

[Sanlynn]

Beautifully done! You also have received some good advice to consider. In your study you have included some pink on the horizon. IMHO if you do paint this scene again perhaps something in the red spectrum would balance things out. You wouldn’t need much and it could be very subtle.