Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Castle painting update - blocking in castle (excerpt from 1000 Markets blog)

Although I have lots to still work on in the front areas, I'm really, _really_ happy to be finally blocking in the main castle. At this point I'm keeping all details to an absolute minimum. As I go back there will be less and less detail, as it's easier to add more details later when I can judge how they fit into the whole as far as receding goes. The castle reference I'm using is pretty dark and dreary so I'm deciding my color palette as I go and keeping my values lighter. It is a lot harder to lighten things than to darken them, although anything can be changed once the paint is dry. I can also use some glazing techniques in the finish stages, if I keep it light, as each layer of glaze darkens the painting. As I go back I will start adding cooler blues and violets to the earth colors, as the eye sees warm colors as being closer. When I get to the final stages of the background I will actually bring some of the sky over the rooftops to fade them even further into the background. Another trick for achieving distance in a painting is to use tone gradation rather than hard lines for edges. For a painting to look realist a painter needs to mimic the human eye process. We see things clear and sharp when they are close but at a distance things start to melt into each other. There is also an atmospheric effect that comes into play. Some soft edges are still used in the foreground but this is an illusional trick to get your eye to 'slide' over some areas and focus on the sharper images the artist wants as focal areas. I cannot believe it is already the middle of the month and I really need to get some serious amounts of canvas covered in the next 2 weeks. Once I am done using the paintstiks (oil paint in a stick form) then I will move to the tube paints... they can take up to two weeks to dry this time of year, so I need to have as much worked out as possible so I only need to add glazes and highlights.

Sue
http://www.1000markets.com/shops/ninedragons

4 comments:

  1. This painting is so cool. I had to click on it to see it more up close. WOW! I can't even imagine being able to do that...and I would have the fear of beginning...just thinking of where to begin.

    Thanks for stopping by. At night if we are out in the garage we can hear all of the coyotes howling...there are a lot around here..I'm actually in Queen Creek if you know where that is. I have a really good view of the Superstitions from my house. We don't have prickly pear in our yard, but I know that others do....hmmmm...

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  2. lol...I got over the blank canvas stage years ago...it's the middle that's a killer lol

    Not sure where Queen Creek is, imagining it's in or near Apache Junction though :) I miss the coyotes, they used to surround our place in New Mexico...I'd just make sure there was a fence between them and our dog, they were great for keeping the mice population down :)

    thanks for comming and commenting!

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  3. HEY, THAT IS A LOT OF WORK GIRL, AND YOU ARE UP TO THE CHALLENGE. I LOVE IT ALL READY AND IT ISN'T EVEN DONE YET.
    YOUR PAL KATHY

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  4. Hey, Pal Kathy! Now that I have my favorite supporter on board I know I'll make it :) thanks and...love ya!

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