46x38 cm canvas. Ugh, this really was not my day. It'd be easier to say what didn't go wrong. The sky is pretty, and the island is okay. That's about it. Oh, and this time I prepared light gray canvas - boy, was it easier to apply white undercoat evenly, this time the paint really slid and blended nicely when doing the sky and water. I think I'm going to keep prepping like that when I do white canvases!
Now the bad things... Colour control is out of whack in just about every layer - too light here, too dark there, wrong shade of dark, etc. I Accidentally used ultramarine in the corners instead of prussian blue. I did the second foothil too far down, so the upper one looks like it's floating midair. Luckily the worst part was covered by the giant spruces. Yet again I had problems with the treeline done with fan brush, I just don't get the motion how to do it neatly. The reflections came out too deep in the far shore, and the island reflections are a tad too shaky and thin. Since both my fanbrushes were already in light colours, and I was pretty tilted, I decided to do the big spruces with 1" brush - they look kinda bad. Highlights were done with fanbrush though. The leftmost tree was done with 2" brush, overall pretty good, but the trunks are too thick and the highlights don't cover them enough, they look off. The road came out way too bright. I also still don't get how you can make fine lines with the liner brush, they come out thick like those sticks however light I try to handle it.
There was one good thing while highlighting the bushes - I finally remembered a trick to keep colours bright: wipe the brush to a paper towel before reaching for more paint, so you don't mix in dark to the highlight colours. Helps with mixing mud.
I think I always say something along the lines of "all in all, I like it". Not this time, I'm afraid. Just a passing grade, since it's not dissimiliar to the original.
Comments
No painting is ever as perfect as we want (if so, we'd have to quit), and we are usually our own worst critic. That said, a lot more went right in this one than otherwise. The ultramarine was a happy accident, IMHO. The background trees may differ from the plan, but they look fine; so does the bush/ground highlighting, reflections, island, etc. I feel your pain re the liner brush. I gave up using the BR natural bristle liner in favor of an inexpensive Princeton #2 nylon liner (with long bristles) from Michaels. The bristles stay together better, and I can generate thin branches much more easily.
Sign in to leave a comment.
Not a member yet?
Join over 6825 other painters and share your
paintings with the world!
Well, your reflections and the water in general looks nice. The sky is blended well and is bright. I also prime with light gray gesso before applying liquid white and it really helps me. I experimented, and to get really thin lines using the script liner, I add more thinner than I normally would - not too much, just so the paint flows freely like ink. Then twirl the brush in the paint to get a point and start painting at the base of the branch, wiggle a bit as you go along to get character, and gently lift tip off canvas as you go towards tip of branch. Good Luck!