White Carnation

[Julieanne]

8x10 oil on canvas. I was attracted to the contrast of the soft, white carnation against the dark wood of the desk. All C&C's welcome. Thanks
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/12-Feb-2006/25517-White_Carnation_8x10_oil_on_canvas.jpg

[DLGardner]

Julieanne
The contrast is certainly striking. I think maybe a little of it is lost because of the detail in the drawer handle. The metal is done very well and shows great reflection but there is a little bit of conflict with it and the flower. Then again, my monitor does not register colors well and that might be the cause of what I see. All in all I think you did a fine job with a difficult subject.

Dianne

[Wayne Gaudon]

nice rendering and color ..

[JamieWG]

Hi Julianne. When I look at your painting, I want to say, "These are both nice!" It's hard for me to bring the top and bottom together, even with the overlapping flower. The value difference, as well as the two separate elements, make it hard for me to tie it together. Perhaps letting us see a better front edge on the desktop above the drawer, and draping a cloth over the top of the desk at an angle, under the flower or stem, and covering some of the handle, would help tie it together and add to the 3D effect. I'm not good with Photoshop, but if you're experienced there, you could play with the effect. Or, you could print out a photo of the painting and play with it on the photo. I think your basic concept here can work better if you can find a way to bring it together.

Jamie

[Julieanne]

Thanks Dianne and Jamie for your comments. I have been struggling with this painting a lot & you can probably tell. First my daughter looked at it and thought the handle was an ashtray (this was when the handle was a different one) that was really funny, so I had to change the handle by looking at another piece of furniture. It is so funny when people look at my paintings and say, "what's that?" or when they think a handle is an ashtray, ha ha ha. Then it looked so flat that you couldn't even tell the flower was sitting on the desk :( so I had to change the value to make the top of the desk look flat which was so hard for me to do. Now it does look separate from the carnation:( I don't know what to do now since it has exhausted me. Oh well, maybe by the time it dries I will have the know how and the energy to tackle it again. Sometimes it is such a struggle but I still love to paint:) Thanks again for all your help it is always appreciated:)

[JamieWG]

Julieanne, sometimes I find it's better to just move on than to continually rework a painting. I keep them, and down the road I sometimes see exactly what I need to do to make it work! If you feel this painting has exhausted you, I think you should move on and do something that you feel more inspired with. :)

Jamie

[Helen Zapata]

This is a charming one. I love the handle, and I always love carnations!

I know you're a bit worn out with this one, and if so.. then definitely take a break from it. But I do need to say what I see. I'm seeing a different light source on the handle than that which is on the desk and flower. They are being hit from light from above, yet the handle seems to be lit from slightly below. This may be because you were looking at a different piece of furnture. I think a simple change in the shadow of the handle, so that it also slants down to the left, will bring it all together.

Nice work!
Helen

[Julieanne]

Thanks Jamie-yea I think I will give it some time & see.
Helen-yea that may be just the thing the light is wrong on the handle because I was looking at another piece of furniture so maybe it would be as simple as just fixing that. Thanks for the help:)

[Katherine T]

Julieanne - Just a thought - and feel free to ignore, but as the problem you have here seems to be one of composition and lighting source, I wonder if you could describe what you do first of all when you work out what to do - before you pick up a paint brush. It may be if that you describe that there might possibly be one or two other pointers to help with future paintings.

[brianc]

Julieanne,

You've had lots of good advice on this one. I think the best thing I can do is just pat you on the back and say how great it is that you've tried something new here. Wood grain, flowers, and metal are all hard to do, and you've jumped in with gusto. I like the way the wood grain has turned out!

Hang in there and keep painting. Your skills are improving with each painting.

[Julieanne]

Hi Katherine, well with this one I knew I wanted to put the carnation as the focal point and I wanted to show the contrast of the flower against the desk. I set it up and shine the light on the object. Then I did a line drawing w/ paint & turp. Then I jump in w/ both feet & go for it. I think I achieved showing the contrast but maybe too much. So, I will give it some time & maybe work on it a little more.
Brian, thank you for your encouragement, it really helps:)