Smoky morning

[kburns]

MY IMAGE(S):
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Critiques/upload_spool/02-24-2002/1885_P2230059E.jpg


GENERAL INFORMATION:
Title: Smoky morning
Year Created: 2002
Medium: Watercolor
Surface: Watercolor Paper
Dimension: 22x24
Allow digital alterations?: Yes!

MY COMMENTS:
Watercolor with sponge techniques.

MY QUESTIONS FOR THE GROUP:
Suggestions? What does it need? Is it finished?

[Chuck Levitin]

Nice start! I have the following comments to pass along:

1. Generally, you should not divide a painting equally between two sections, like you have 1/2 red and 1/2 blue. Unequal areas tend to be more pleasing. You also have 1/2 warm and 1/2 cool. A painting works better if it appears mostly cool or mostly warm, but not evenly divided.
2. You should move the color around, put some blue in the red areas and red in the blue areas. This makes the painting more pleasant to the eye.
3. There is no clear center of interest. The red rectangle at bottom center does not appear "attractive" enough to be a center of interest as it has less chroma than the larger areas.
4. The colors appear to be right out of the paint tube, with no mixing. Paintings are more interesting if the colors change a bit, e.g from a warm red to a cool red.
5. Value changes - from light to dark also help. Your painting is mostly midvalue.

[kburns]

Thanks for the input..would cropping it help?

[Chuck Levitin]

I think it needs more than just a cropping. Here is a quick digital edit of your painting to illustrate the elements I mentioned in my last post.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/25-Feb-2002/kburns2.jpg

[henrik]

You painting struck me as very similar to one of Paul Klee's in shape. Here is a link http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/klee/parnassum/klee.parnassum.jpg

You could take this in various directions; if you want to keep colors flat, you need to pay extra attention to the composition - the interest must come from the relationsships between the forms and lines. Another direction would be as Chuck suggests; liven up the colors and values, a third would be more realistic.

Look at the Klee and see how he managed to weave multiple themes into his at first glance simple design. His being more of a full orchestra playing...

So, any advice depends on what it is you are trying to acheive.