Torre del Oro - Sevilla

[Grapes]

This painting is an oil painting on wood. Size is: 55x35 cm. The tower's name is: "Torre del Oro" and it stands next to the Guadalquivir river.

The story goes that back in old days it was covered by gold so from there comes the name (gold engl. = oro spanish). I wonder where the gold has gone

I finished this long ago but I'm wishing return to touch some areas and sky with different color etc. and just fix things more.
I had real trouble getting the tower standing straight. I don't like sharp lines that I have everywhere, though, I was able to loose some sharp lines since the earlier version.
I've been thinking if the people walking on the walkway are too small but if I compare to the photograph (the 2nd pic) they actually are quite small. Also, some viewers don't understand the bush line on the left side of the walkway and they ask me: are they trees? maybe bushes? and if they are bushes why are they so large! Well, they are huge bushes, size of tall trees. Nowadays they have cut the bushes away and there are palm trees instead.

 

[Donna T]

Grapes, what a stunningly beautiful painting! I am in awe of how you used that photo to make such a gorgeous work of art! You made the sky more interesting with the clouds you added, which draw our eye up to the top of the tower after we have explored the ground. You made the pink blossoms prettier than the photo as well and they contrast so nicely with the greens. I would be afraid to mess with the lines of the tower - you'd end up re-doing all of it to make the colors match. It's very old and we expect it to have settled and lean a tiny bit. I think the trees on the left look like trees because the people are so tiny. Maybe if you made them a little less regular, as in have one big one spill out over the walkway a little they might read more as trees. Or you could make one a different shape on top, maybe tall and skinny? You could possibly lighten the value of the most distant trees to push them way back. But really, this is a knockout just as it is and I'd be very careful of losing what you have. Could you try any changes in something like Photoshop first?

 

[Grapes]

Thanks so much, Donna!

The sky in Seville is normally without clouds unless there's a storm or something. Like you see in the photo. It's just sun shine all the time. For that reason I hesitated to add clouds but it's more interesting with them in than just plain blue, isn't it.

I used several photos for this painting. I only could quickly find this reference so I posted it. I often also stop looking at the ref and paint looking at the painting only but in the end I check if I've gotten completely wrong.

You have excellent idea of breaking the tree/bush line (on the left side of the walkway) so that it isn't all same size and shape. That line needs to be fixed! One gets so blind when looking at it for too long.

It's ages I've used Photoshop so l might find other way to try things out. Maybe quick oil sketches? What I actually often do is when dry l paint over and if it's not working I just wipe out with a drop of turpentine or oil can work fine, too, if the painting has plenty of oil already.

It was nice to read your thoughts. Thank you!