View of Twilight Sky
Outside my Front Door
I have several paintings going at the moment, but none of them are complete. They are being worked on in rotation because with the method I'm using, only a small amount of glazing and scumbling can be done per day. So today, I'm showing some reference material I'm gathering. The goal is to portray the twilight hour. I used color imaging in iPhoto on my Mac to change the color of this sky from deep blue to yellow-orange. It will be a jumping off point for future paintings.
When I come up with a composition that I like, I find the idea needs to simmer for a while. I work it out in sketches, moving things around with pencil and eraser until I come up with something that works. Rarely do I find a composition in nature that is perfectly composed. I would love to hear about how you come up with compositions that work!
6 comments:
Your photo is terrific and I think you've "tweaked" it perfectly... The orange sky adds interest and makes you look twice.
I find when painting things like this, however, that from a distance they are great, but in dealing with the black part it's difficult to "pull off" anything interesting that doesn't just look like a black cut-out.
I look forward to see how you did it.
That's a good subject title. Will be checking in on you later and find out the progress.
~Silver
The photo has a "mood" already. It should be interesting to see how it progresses. I usually start with a thumbnail sketch in pencil of what I want to do,often a photo reference, and then try to simplify the scene coloring in three values. I try to stick to the values when painting, but often all goes awry and I end up with mud. If I can keep the darks dark, the lights light, and mids mids, it can come together.
Janelle, What a great photo and title! I will be interested in what you do with this. Are you planning to change the composition at all? I'm back to my oils today after two weeks of watercolour, and just got through laying in some skies..... making a mess and loving it!
Maggie
Hi Marian, I love orange skies, don't you? I'm not sure how I'll be portraying this one yet. Sometimes an idea needs to simmer for a while. I'll probably do more observation and photos when it's not quite so dark.
Hi Silver, Thanks for checking in. Now I need to check in with you!
Hi Catherine, It's so important to do value sketches. I saw your blog and I think your paintings are amazing! No mud there!
Hi Maggie, I'm planning on changing the composition quite a bit. Sometimes I only use reference photos for a jumping off point. I need to check in with you to see how the switch from watercolors to oils is going. Brave girl!
This is going to make a superb painting.
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