Daffodil Field

[wtrclrgrl]

I am posting this here, cause it did not turn out even close to what I was hoping for!! To me it looks like I did it with crayons and I am 4 years old....:lol:

How could I redo this and make it more -"watercolorish"????

Comments welcome!!

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/25-Apr-2008/108726-daf_field_web.JPG

[lpb]

It's a great start! I especially like the distant foothills and trees. They can out just right. Nice depth & layering. On the mountain, I would suggest leavin gmore white where the snow and glaciers are. I would rework the daffodils so they extend back towards the mt further, rather than a band across the bottom. Then I would try to add some exaggerated perespective to them...much larger in the front, tapering down to the little dots you currently have in the middle ground. Now, mind you, I could not execute this even as well as you have already, but as a viewer, that is what I would like to see.

No reason to beat yourself up over this, though. It really came out nicely. You will learn from it and have even more fun doing the next version!

Aren't we fortunate here in NW to have so many flower fields to choose from?! :clap:

[RTi]

Conni, this is good looking Washington scene. I think the buildings should be muted down because they are so far away, and when you do another scene like this only do one even if the picture shows 2. The eye seems to bounce from one to the other plus they are on the same line. I think there should be larger flowers receding smaller back. I like your Mountain, cool recedes warm comes forward so maybe you could warm up the closer flowers:)

[wtrclrgrl]

Thanks for the feed back Lorraine and Ral!!! I always seem to find what you guys mention is what was bothering me whether I knew it or not!!! I really love this field as it is right down the road from me but I am trying to push thru my lack of landscape talents and do them anyway... I will learn eventually!!

[painterbear]

Conni,
If it is the daffodil field that you really want to be the focus of your painting, I think you could change the perspective of your painting a bit so that they are larger and more prominent.

If you can take another reference photo, try getting down on the same level as the flowers and shoot the scene with the flowers larger and closer to the camera.

Then the rest of the scene would be less in focus and importance, and the flowers would dominate.

Sylvia

[gibbs]

I agree with Sylvia. If you squint at the painting, it is divided into 3 almost equal parts. It would work better if there was 1 dominant area of the painting. Also, I would try a wash of warm yellow in the foreground for the field instead of painting individual flowers. Then paint in a few realistic looking ones. I really like the balance of the reds and the distant mountains, but you might want to use a cooler red to suggest distance. It's much easier for me to tell you what to do than for me to do it and make it look good! :rolleyes:

[artdreamer1]

Don't be so hard on yourself--this is much better than I could paint a landscape (although I do agree that it does seem to be in 3 parts). I, personally, love the mountain. It's the first thing that I noticed. The flowers--although I like the way they are painted, are forming a "wall". Not sure exactly what you can do about that except maybe angle them a little more--leave an open space somewhere maybe...

If you want it to look more "watercolorish", you need to use more water and work really fast (at least that's the way it appears to me); it's pretty dry looking right now. You also would probably need more lost edges too. I'm not one of those who have the ability (most of the time anyway) to make my paintings really "loose" although I certainly admire those who can.

Keep on painting and posting...

Michele

[RTi]

Truly, the watercolor studio is the place I learn the most and the reason I joined WC. Nothing pushes an artist forward faster than having and applying real good critique:)

[Jakesgram]

Hi Connie!

I agree with many of the comments already made. You have done a beautiful job with the painting. As it stands, though, the proportions of foreground, middle ground, and background seem a bit off to me. I got to wondering if cropping it into a portrait format, rather than landscape, might be interesting. For what it is worth, here is a possible approach for the next one you do:

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/27-Apr-2008/127224-108726-daf_field_web2.jpg
You could leave the treeline just as it is, but shift the rest of the buildings so they are just left of the one that is still in the picture above. (sorry, I wish I were good at photoshop and able to show you what I mean.)

Anyway, I think this gives some very interesting diagonal lines and helps to reduce that wide expanse of green in the middle. I would also use the diminishing sizes on the daffodils as already suggested to give them more perspective.

Hope you don't mind my playing with your picture.

Jean

[happypaddler]

Lots of good advice here. I would just tone down the buildings so they aren't so attention grabbing and blurr the line between the flowers and the field in a couple of places. This is way too good to give up on.

[KreativeK]

Conni, a most excellent start here. I agree with all the others' remarks. The crop is quite interesting as well. Learn from it and go on to the next one.

[Brian Barnes]

My first impression for a remedy has already been suggested by others. Decided to try it out in PhotoShop anyway just for practice.;) Here is the manip. for what it's worth. Hope you don't mind.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/20-May-2008/33172-daffies.jpg

BrianB

[lyn lynch]

Oh wow! Look what Brian has done--Brian, you are such a blessing to us; you get my Mentor Point AGAIN.

Brian has shown you how to do it--look how beautiful your daffy field is--they are the stars of the show.

As mentioned, tone down the b/g (I'd go higher value), and remember that if you use red, that's the color that immediately draws the eye. Do you want the focus of your painting to be those red buildings?

Your glacier mountain looks wonderful.

[Starsprite]

Connie..I really liked this as it is....but when Brian did the Photoshop thing...WOW...it does look better compositionally and more "watercolory" this way. I had the same problem with a painting called Field of Poppies over in the Watercolor Plus Gallery. (Hey Brian Barnes...... would you be so kind as to photoshop my painting too with suggestions?? ) :) Connie, I love your colors in this painting too.

[wtrclrgrl]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!!

Brian- Your a genious!! Ok well maybe just great... but i love your version... May have to try and fix!!! Thanks!!!

Patty... I feel for you... but yours came out with more depth defenetly!!! I liked it!!!