Saturday, August 30, 2008

august virtual sketch date



(7.5x11)

This month's Virtual Sketch Date painting. The subject was daunting, so I tried to keep Charles Hawthorne's advice in mind: "Painting is just getting one spot of color in relation to another spot of color."

After I was done, I saw another Hawthorne quote that I wish I'd seen first: "Always remember that the thing which to you looks difficult may be very easy"!
I wouldn't say this was "easy," but it was a subject I would never even have attempted--for that reason alone, I'm glad I tried.

Please visit the Virtual Sketch Date blog for links to other participating bloggers--it's very interesting to see how different artists approach the same subject!--and sign on for next month!
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22 comments:

  1. Hi Laura, I agree, this was a difficult subject.The colors that you chose are beautiful especially for the leaves,reds,oranges, and magentas.I had trouble with the violet in the cabbage.I need to purchase cobalt violet,or something other than dioxazine violet which is so opague.I ended up using pallete colors, and some quin.magenta,ultramarine violet. Yesterday (I was playing around with windsor red,it is such a beautiful transparent color.) I always try to learn something from every painting,success or failure,really isn't of much consequence without gaining knowledge. The cabbage picture reminded me to mix my colors. I have been depending on tube colors too much lately, and tubes alone are just not rich enough.So I am thankful for that.

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  2. Hi Cathy. I enjoyed the background--the oranges and magentas--more than the cabbage! Good for you for learning something each time--I automatically dip into the colors on my palette, and don't make mental note of what I'm doing--not conducive to learning!! I'm surprised you didn't use cobalt violet (one of my faves, though it is somewhat opaque)--you did great with dioxizine though!

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  3. I love your quotes!
    This was a very challenging subject, and I think you have a spectacular, colorful result.

    Even though the photo was so soft and subdued in tone, I saw a blaze of color, and I think you did too :)

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  4. I love the calm and gentle soft forms looking at those fiery colours flying up and off at the side - lovely composition and painting, you had no need to feel daunted after all. Great quotes to remember for challenging subjects!

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  5. Laura I love the bold colors you put into this painting. You really made an exciting, fiery painting out of a reference I interpreted with more sedate colors. Thanks too for sharing Charles Hawthorne's advice. I used a quote to help me this month too, but it was my own. :D

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  6. Laura, this is a lovely interpretation of the reference photo. I love the clear colours you used, it brings to my mind painting on silk with gutta resist.

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  7. I love the vibrant colors you achieved. Mine was more subdued than what my taste is. I really like that you got the color in with the non cabbage leaves.

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  8. This is beautiful, Laura. And so is the 5 x 7 that you posted on the 29th. Really lovely.

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  9. I really like the crop and placement of warm and cool in this - well done.

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  10. Lovely painting, off now to investigate this sketch date you refer to...

    Kx

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  11. The others have said it all.
    I think Hermes could make a beautiful silk scarf using this design and these colours.
    Thanks for the quotes from me too.

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  12. A lovely painting. The colours are good. And I like the quotes, especially the second one. It is so easy to look at a subject and be put off by its apparent difficulty when, if you sit down and look again, it may not be so difficult.

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  13. I just took a look at the reference photo, love what you did with this subject, Laura. The crop is great and your colors are so vibrant!

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  14. Laura, I love this! Wonderful reds and oranges with the cool violets and blues. Gotta love strong color! Thanks for your recent comments on my blog..it's good to know someone is reading.
    Very inspiring painting.
    Thanks for the view.
    gail

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  15. The colors are stunning in this painting. You have such an eye for a beautiful arrangement.

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  16. Beautiful colours and composition - gorgeous!

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  17. Thank you all for visiting and commenting. I'm especially surprised--and therefore pleased!--that people like the composition. Of course, the composition was largely a given (to be tweaked with cropping and orientation), but I'm glad it works. It's crazy, but composition is something I never think about, not consciously anyway ... I usually pick a point and start out from there!

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  18. Oh, you did a spectacular job with this--I love it!! this type of image is so complex and you can get lost in trying to replicate it, but I love how you interpreted it. Just stunning! So vibrant and interesting! I like it so much better than the photo itself!

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  19. This is absolutely stunning! Beautiful!

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  20. Beautiful treatment on the colors. I like the contrasts of the blues with the red. I also like how you created the leaves without actually painting the leaves. Very nice technique.

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  21. Wow, this turned out really good. I thought it would be a difficult subject.
    Have already committed to giving Sept project a go!

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  22. Thanks so much for your kind comments on the pears, Laura. Your blog is one of the art websites which inspire me to be a bit more thoughtful in my own work. You do such a wonderful job of keeping your colors bright and sparkling, as in this lovely painting.

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