Tree WIP (I think) <g>

[Lawrence Fox]

I did this one this afternoon in a workshop--and I really liked it, but the Resident Critic (the spousal overunit :)) thinks I "need something in the bottom left"). I'm torn. She's usually right spot on, but I'm not sure....

Any suggestions?

Or is it done?

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/09-May-2008/103344-Tree_of_Life_Upload.jpg

[No6 Brush]

Looks fine to me 'as is'....



Regards

Tony

[RTi]

I really like this as is, :)

[happypaddler]

I would be tempted to put something down there but if it were mine I would chicken out. Try something on a piece of scrap and lay it on top. If it works add it if not leave it. I too like it as is so it is your call. Big help aren't I. :D

[juneto]

She is looking for balance ,I think. WoW, what a Good eye she has !.
How about a FEW long grasses tested on a piece of acetate . You can see through it .
Is this a Pour ? It looks like one .
Btw , I do like it very much .
june :clap: :clap: :clap:

[theo44]

You could run a old wooden fence on a diagonal past the tree.

theo

[Yorky]

I think maybe also a pale foreground wash - indicating a field in the background.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/10-May-2008/1046-IAAFoxSilDSE.jpg

Doug

[painterbear]

Lawrence,
I like it just as it is. I love the way the color changes in the canopy and the branches and trunk are wonderful too.

Whose workshop inspired such lovely creativity?????

Sylvia

[bluegenes]

Lawrence, this is great! Don't add a thing, and do another one, quick! LOL

(okay, one thing....you COULD lengthen the shadows/roots over to the left a little more to balance that painting, but that would risk ruining it. Just a thought for the next one.)

I'm curious too, to know whose workshop you attended.

Patty

[bluegenes]

Lawrence, this is great! Don't add a thing, and do another one, quick! LOL

(okay, one thing....you COULD lengthen the shadows/roots over to the left a little more to balance that painting, but that would risk ruining it. Just a thought for the next one.)

I'm curious too, to know whose workshop you attended.

Patty

[lizcar57]

This is really cool. It makes me nervous to put something in the left corner. I'd leave it i think!!! would hate to ruin the effect!

Good luck, LOL!

[lyn lynch]

Just lengthen, as Patty said. Don't go heavy though, use your rigger. I think it's a lovely tree.

[Lawrence Fox]

Thanks to everybody for your suggestions. Part of me still thinks "Tis done". I may lengthen the roots a bit more with a rigger as suggested by Patty and Fookie--and then let it sit for a couple more days. I'll also drop by Curry's and pick up some clear acetate or try some stuff on scrap paper.

As for the workshop, it was at Studio Six (http://www.studio-six.com/) here in Markham (I've taken a few workshops there and it's a terrific place--the room is large and the store owners take really good care of the students). And the instructor was Gary Chapman; his older website is here (http://www3.sympatico.ca/judith.anne/gary.htm) if you'd like to see some of his works--it's mainly wet-in-wet landscapes and it was a joy to learn some of his techniques--I have another, more "conventional" one that I'll post later tonight.

This one was done with a technique that Gary calls "sponge and syrige". We took a large sea sponge (about the size of a large grapefruit) that was soaked (and I mean REALLY soaked) and rolled it quickly across the paper leaving separated puddles. We shook the paper so the puddle would spread a bit and connect. Then, we mixed up some paint in about a 10:1 or 8:1 mixture (water to paint), sucked it into a large syrige (Gary gets them from his dentist, but they looked similar to ones that I've seen for cleaning large buildups of earwax (ewww)) and then dropped the paint, one colour at a time, into the puddles, and let it mix on the paper. We also moved and turned and tilted the paper to allow mixing.

During the process, he sometimes adds a few straighter lines with a rigger or small flat brush.

Gary uses this technique to do some interesting swamp or forest pictures and as "artistic break/refresher" from doing his more "conventional" landscapes.

This one used French Ultra, Burnt Sienna and aureolin. After I swirled things about, I looked at it and said "Holy heck! It's a tree!" so I added the trunk and the branches, and voila!.

It's times like that that keep me painting, when the magic occurs and something jumps out of the paper.

Gotta run--going to my SIL's for Mother's Day. BBL.

[DaleZiegler]

i like it the way it is. but haven't you learned to accept the fact that you wife has good taste? After all--- She picked you!

[happypaddler]

Aha I say smiling. I thought that someting about that style was sort of familiar. I sat in a Gary Chapman workshop back about 1995 and it was fantastic. I suspect that you had fun and learned a lot.

This is the painting that I did in his workshop way back then. I hope you don't mind me adding it to your post.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/11-May-2008/92360-gary_inspired_small.jpg

I hope that you enjoyed his workshop as much as I did Lawrence.

[Lawrence Fox]

I bought some clear acetate last week and tried a couple of variations to fill in that lower left corner, but none really turned me on (nor made it past the approval of the Resident Critic :)), so added a few more roots and shadows and posted the final version to the Gallery here (http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6810099#post6810099).

Thanks to all who made suggestions!

[hyde41]

From what I've learned in some intense photorealist watercolor lessons, having a thin wash of diluted color to "marry" the whole composition together works. It's frightening at first because it's unexpected what pigments will start moving around. It's a massive mind @uck! (pardon the americanized french)

For your tree, I would go ahead and run a thin wash of that lovely yellow (highly diluted of course) across the whole surface of the painting. It will dry much lighter. But that's my suggestion.

Your experimental colors are intense and composition is amazing.

keep it up!

_hyde