Tuesday, May 15

Another Panoramic View

Highland View
Acrylic on Arches 140lb/300gsm Watercolor Paper
22 x 7 in/55.9 x 17.8 cm (image area)
Copyright Byrne Smith 2018
It's been several months since I last painted a panorama. However, I still had a sheet of Arches watercolor paper left over that was already trimmed perfectly so that my motif--a very wide panorama--would exactly fit.

As I've mentioned in previous blogs, if you haven't tried painting with acrylics as if they were watercolor and painted on watercolor paper, you should try it. I predict you'll be surprised at how much using the medium this way enhances the creative aspects of painting, at least it does for me.

Even though it's only mid-May, summer has arrived on time in our area and will stay around for the next five months. With daytime temperatures in the mid-90s Fahrenheit (that's mid-30s Celsius), I will be painting in the air-conditioning, and will only venture out occasionally for a reference photo or two.

I'm also feeling the need to bring out my water-soluble oil paints very soon, maybe this afternoon. It's been several months since I put them away, and I want to feel their buttery texture on my canvas again.

If you paint, I'm sure you understand.

Friday, May 4

It's Never Too Late to Re-Work a Painting

Paradise Awaits
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
20 x 16 in/50.8 x 40.6 cm
Copyright Byrne Smith 2018
A couple of months ago I posted a blog on how to improve a painting after you have completed and hung it in your studio or, more likely, filed it away wherever it is that you keep your finished work.

I mentioned I was cleaning out my painting area, and that included going through all my completed paintings and looking at them with a more critical eye. That's because you become more experienced over time. I had culled all the ones I didn't like anymore, if I ever did, and threw them away. Imagine that.

There were several, however, that I thought could be rehabilitated somewhat if I re-worked them with my hopefully greater painting experience.

Today's image is another one I "saved," originally from 2015 (I think). I thought I had posted it in one of my blog posts around that time. I wanted to be able to show you the "before" and "after," but I searched through my archives and could not find it. I must not have used it in a blog. Sorry. Maybe even then it wasn't one of my favorites.

But I'll explain a little about what I did to the painting. First, I did not re-work any of the sky and clouds--I decided I could not improve upon them at all. However, the water, the waves, the land mass, and the foliage were all completely re-painted. In my original work, the color of the water and blue sky were not at all harmonious, and it was the first thing anyone would notice. So I gave the water more cerulean and added more waves, and that helped.

I also changed the tone of the land, which had a rosy hue--I must have used alizarin crimson. I changed that to more of a natural reddish earth tone. That made it appear as if the scene is now in bright sunlight, and it also acted as a complementary color to the water and sky.

Lastly, the foliage, which had been a dark, dark green, probably a Jenkins green, was lightened up a lot, and I painted greens that lean toward yellow on the color wheel.

Believe me, it looks much better now. I hope you like it.