a night in Spout Cave
Posted by Stephen Quirke on July 29, 2009 under Art, Cedarberg, landscape, painting, watercolor, watercolour | 
8 Comments to Read
I have been wanting to try this for a while now, having seen the banner on Keith’s blog. Last night I went to look and found he had put the whole painting on which I found breath-taking. Sorry about the oohs and aaahs Keith but it was inspiring.
Here is my first wash:
And here is how it looks now:
This is showing promise and I may fiddle a bit more to work out how I will do the next version. I am sure I can get further with the first wash. The colours made such lekker patterns in the paper.
It is good to see it here – man this looks dramatic – though not quite what I am aiming for. The dark at the top is supposed to be a cliff face with patches of snow and there are rocks in front of the cave with a snow-bank in the foreground. There are grassy plants sticking out of the snow which I could do better. But the glow works hey? I have used a warm yellow and purple (from the other side of the colour wheel and Windsor blue with a green shade which should be opposite the warmer yellow and I added some cadmium red to the blue to create darks. I am going to read a bit more of Jeanne Dobie on darks and glow.
OK – here is how it looks now – I think this is pretty much it for this version. I have put in some hikers and more darks. I had a look at Keith’s flowers and I see he is not scared to pour on the darks.
Any input on how I could do it better would be appreciated here. The snow-slope in the foreground is irredemable I think – or at least I don’t have the energy to fiddle with it any longer – that clump of grass is rather pathetic – the rest is OK for me:L
lesliepaints said,
No ideas unless you want to define the rocks more and darken certain areas to cause the opening to be even brighter. Maybe Keith can share with us how many layers he may use to build up his darks. You are using heavier paper so it may take more to achieve his strength of darks. Don’tknow. I like it, though. Are you feeling more challenged, in studio, now?
swatch said,
Thanks Leslie – yes this is a good project. The big painting is also a challenge even if it is because everything takes so long – no 10 minute sketches.
As I look at it now there are some changes I would like to make. I think the glow works. It is strange though that it seems to be easier to appreciate this looking at the photos than looking at the actual painting. Do you get that? I would like to break up the lower band of rock. It is actually a tumble of rocks down the gully with a band of rock below the entrance to the cave. I also want to darken the area on the right, under the rock wall. And sort out the snow and the plants (mmm – yuck) – I would like to create a sense of rock face above the cave but am not sure how I will do that.
I realised last night as I worked on my other painting that creating darks requires LOTS of colour. I don’t use black, prefering to mix darks from Alizarin Crimson with Winsor Green or Ultramarine.
The painting is 15 x 22 inches so it is not that much area to cover.
I am hoping to have some time to work today.
lesliepaints said,
I try to paint a scene differently than I see the photo. I try to record the best of what I get from a scene. Sometimes I crop it for a better composition. I re-evaluate throughout. So, when I appreciate the photo more than the painting I know that I’m not done. My photos are never a work of art as I am a poor photographer. I use them purely as reference and try to whap a painting with something of myself. Does that make sense to explain it that way? I love the diagonals that are created in this in the foreground leading the eye to the light. The band at the top leads my eye back down to the light.
swatch said,
Hi Leslie – Aha nice insights – yes – I like the process you describe about using photos. I guess if I did more thorough value sketches I could work some of the process into the planning. As it happens I did two little colour sketches but that was more to test the colours to see if they produced a glow. My comment about photos was too vague. What I find is that I can appreciate my paintings more when I see the photos of the paintings on the blog. I wonder if that is like seeing something new.
I am replanning the painting with more of a bridge between the snow bank and the cave – it seems cut off. I like what you said about the diagonals and will keep that movement in.
Thank you for your input – this is such a great learning experience here. You have a real coaching nature to your input.
Stephen
lesliepaints said,
Sorry I read your question incorrectly about the photo thing. Yes, there is a glow on the computer that seems to light up the piece.
swatch said,
In one of the books I read the artist looked at his paintings through a lens or something to get new perspective. We are so lucky with digital – it costs nothing – once you are set up – to photograph and view a piece differently. I hope you get a chance to paint this weekend.
lookingforbeauty said,
Stunning light in this one – and a few others, above. I sense your style is changing. Practice, practice, practice.
K
swatch said,
Yep – that’s the secret – thanks hey
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