The Magenta Canoe
- Thread starter john
- Start date
laika
Loitering Member
- Messages
- 1,415
A very interesting landscape! I like the stylized tree in the foreground and the long river winding on out to the horizon. The terraces on the left brought me up to the figure on top that I didn't notice at first glance. Certain aspects of this remind me of Eyvind Earle. Very nice!
Did you have trouble with lower layers lifting?
M
Martin C
I really like this. It is very unusual (in a good way!) with lots of interesting elements and a strong composition, and great colours, esp. the two blues of the river. Great title too, encouraging some searching in the picture.
john
Well-known member
- Messages
- 1,119
Yes thank you yes when I went to put the azo yellow sunbeams over the cobalt blue the blue was coming up through. So apparently like with watercolors the gouache has transparent staining and more opaque colors. The yellow is staining but also more transparent and the cobalt is easily lifted just like with watercolors.
I love the comparison with Eyvind Earle as I really like his stuff and have some as my favs on WikiArt. He's a little too precise but maybe it's sour grapes because I don't have that kind of skill
The basic tree design I stole from a Joseph Stella painting. I had been thinking of Fauvist trees when I saw that one and seemed like a good idea as it allowed looking through it.
john
Well-known member
- Messages
- 1,119
Thanks Terri. Yeah it ended up collage-y. Part of that is due to early on in the painting I was mixing acrylic and cheap gouache and the later layers of tree and rays was the good stuff with a lot of oomph. I'm just a little bothered that the sky seems tacked on and not part of the whole. I'm still thinking of filling in around the cloud blobs a little to match the blues further down on the painting.
And the sunrays.......arrgh, having second thoughts there too.
john
Well-known member
- Messages
- 1,119
Thanks Wayne. Yes much color here. No earth colors were allowed. But maybe next painting I'll tone down the greens and yellow. I seem to have a love/hate thing with those colors.
john
Well-known member
- Messages
- 1,119
Thanks Martin. Yeah no landscape painting on earth looks like this one and I'm happy about that. What I'm going for. Abstraction as much as possible while still being a landscape. Although maybe it's more stylization than abstraction.
Yes the title is bit of a nudge and also ironic. And what the heck IS magenta? Still confuses me.
john
Well-known member
- Messages
- 1,119
I love so much about this John. Still thinking about that bright yellow. I am loving all the blues and greens in this SO much! I am so into your style recently.
Thanks Ayin. But I'm having artists remorse about the yellow sun rays. It seemed like a good idea at the time but they really take over the painting. A little too garish perhaps. I maybe got a little drunk with the power of gouache.
It's funny but my thought process was, without the rays it was a nice painting, too pretty to be edgy "ART". Can't have pretty - need the crazy eccentric stuff in there to be serious "ART". I confuse myself so much. LOL.
john
Well-known member
- Messages
- 1,119
What's cool is that I discovered the paint editing program on my tablet so I can take a pic and then go over and add stuff to see how it might look. I also just discovered the ArtRage app which is cool to sketch out the ideas and colors first. I've never sketched out ideas first before which was probably dumb, but this makes it easy now. Very helpful for these dreamed up landscapes. Fun app to use.
So to reign in the yellow bully rays this a mock up of what I was thinking about, roughly. Go over it with some purple to tone it down so it doesn't dominate the painting.
What do you guys think about this? A little easier on the eyes right? Suggestions? I was also thinking of adding a wave pattern onto the rays but that might be too much also. Or maybe I should give up and just move on and control myself better next time.
So to reign in the yellow bully rays this a mock up of what I was thinking about, roughly. Go over it with some purple to tone it down so it doesn't dominate the painting.
What do you guys think about this? A little easier on the eyes right? Suggestions? I was also thinking of adding a wave pattern onto the rays but that might be too much also. Or maybe I should give up and just move on and control myself better next time.
Last edited:
M
Martin C
Comparing the two it seems you've lost a degree of luminosity in the rest of the painting, which was one of the things I found attractive in the original (perhaps its just photographic differences).
Magenta is a great mixer as it reflects both at the red and the blue end. I've become a fan... It goes well with the greens in your original version.
Magenta is a great mixer as it reflects both at the red and the blue end. I've become a fan... It goes well with the greens in your original version.
john
Well-known member
- Messages
- 1,119
Yeah, it's the photo differences, first was taken with a phone and so everything is amped up. I edited it and it's now above it. Now I'm thinking of adding an abstract pattern on the rays.
Magenta as a mixer huh? Never would have thought. Cool.
Artyczar
Moderator
- Messages
- 13,391
John, I am sorry if I gave you any doubt about the yellow rays. I feel bad if I messed with your head!
I still love this painting and the yellow grows on me. I do prefer the muted light orange, (the last one) but that's just one idiot's preference.
I take my work in progress into Photoshop all the time and test color and composition before I put paint onto the canvas. Not always, but usually, especially the oil paintings. And the larger gouache ones. Watercolors are more intuitive for me. I'm happy to hear you are into the gouache. I have just recently come back to them and bought a huge set. Cost me a fortune.
I still love this painting and the yellow grows on me. I do prefer the muted light orange, (the last one) but that's just one idiot's preference.
I take my work in progress into Photoshop all the time and test color and composition before I put paint onto the canvas. Not always, but usually, especially the oil paintings. And the larger gouache ones. Watercolors are more intuitive for me. I'm happy to hear you are into the gouache. I have just recently come back to them and bought a huge set. Cost me a fortune.
john
Well-known member
- Messages
- 1,119
John, I am sorry if I gave you any doubt about the yellow rays. I feel bad if I messed with your head!
I still love this painting and the yellow grows on me. I do prefer the muted light orange, (the last one) but that's just one idiot's preference.
I take my work in progress into Photoshop all the time and test color and composition before I put paint onto the canvas. Not always, but usually, especially the oil paintings. And the larger gouache ones. Watercolors are more intuitive for me. I'm happy to hear you are into the gouache. I have just recently come back to them and bought a huge set. Cost me a fortune.
Oh no, not at all. You didn't mess with my head, I do that myself.
They have been bothering me. They are too dominant and boring at the same time. I have an idea for them. Yeah I can see how the sketching software is going to be very helpful.
A huge set of gouache ? Nice to have the colors ready to go as the mood strikes rather than mixing. Yeah I just bought a five tube starter set of M Graham and it was fifty bucks. I'm liking working with gouache. It's a nice in between watercolor and acrylic/oil without as much hassle. No need to clean brushes or worry about the paint drying on the pallet etc. and no smell at all.
