help, palm trees!

[sillk]

I've been working on this canvas in my grandmother's basement...the wall is a perfect size, much bigger then anything in my house, and it's panelling that I can staple to, so it's a great setup! ...except for the pole in front of it on one side, the crappy lighting, I can't really get back far enough to see the whole composition, and the fact that I'm in a basement while the sun is shining... but I really shouldn't complain, I'm lucky I can hang an 11 foot canvas! It will be installed in an interior decorating store on May 15th, in one of the "vignettes" of a tropical theme.

SO! I have never painted a tropical scene before. I've had fun laying in the colors and the palm trees were challenging and entertaining to figure out, but it's not coming together as well as I'd hoped. After I spliced the photos together, I immediately saw a problem with the palm tree on the left - a cluster of the leaves are growing out of the air, not off of the tree...but I think I can fix that by adding a couple more leaves below it. That will also help in creating the atmosphere of being at the edge of the trees looking out, something that's not really happening yet....!

Another problem I had was the color of the shadows on the sand. I tried purple, then blue, then ochre in layers...and I think the result will be painting out the shadows! I just don't know. Help!

I could keep justifying all the errors, but I would much rather hear what you guys have to say! I don't get to wetcanvas very often any more, but whenever I have a problem, I think of you guys coming to my rescue!

Any comments and especially critique is welcome. Thanks!
Stacey

p.s. I really think I need some kind of subject on the bottom left corner to balance out the trees - it's so split in half! BUt how? what??

[debsn2paintn]

Stacey I think this looks really good, I like the way the fronds seem to go different directions, they make a nice silhouette, and yes I think you can fix that on frond easily. I can't tell in your photo but maybe some highlights on the outside edges of the fronds would be nice. I like the blue sky at the top and the way it blends down the the horizon, the water looks nice...I like the different colors giving it some movement and interest. The waves on the sand look wonderful! From the tiny little section that I can see a shadow on the sand the color looks good. Wet sand is a brown with probably a tiny bit of blue/or purple. Those little mountains on the left do help balance the left side, what about adding some palm trees on the shore right in front of those little mountains,on the left side as an eye stopper.

Is this in the morning or late afternoon?

I'm sure someone else will come along and give advise too! Hopefully Michele or Becky. But it looks pretty great to me

[jeanvrb]

Hello Stacey,

I very much like your painting. I grew up in central Florida and I remember the beauty of the palm trees. You have done a great job on them. I like your choice of colors and I especially like the way you handled the transparency of the water rushing onto the sand.

I think the rocks on the left do help to balance the palms on the right. I only see one tiny thing that I would suggest. I think if you very slightly soften the tops and outer edges of the rocks, they would not distract the eye from the beautiful palm trees. You have very nicely softened the edges of the fronds coming from the other side of the palm.

What will the canvas be attached to when it is hung? Also, what kind of paints are you using?

Thanks for sharing.

Jeanette

[windsongmeditation]

Hi Stacey ,
I like it open like it is…it leaves more to the imagination.
If I were compelled to put something on the left I would consider a grounded rowboat or some fern type plants…….Nice work …..windsong

[dreamz]

I was thinking along the same lines as Windy but I thought a native style canoe.. Altough I don't really think anything is needed~~ at least in the scale I can see it works well as is, covering a full wall it may look different~~I really like your palms and the fronds that seem to come from outside the picture really work 4 me, it puts the viewer in the picture

[Autumnwillow]

Sorry, no critique here, this is just sooooo gorgeous!

Michele

[bowerbird]

Sillk you have done a fabulous job !!! My only concern - a VERY small one - is that ALL the fronds are blue green and there are no warmer yellow green ones but ignore this if there IS and it is not showing in the photo Highlights on some edges like Deb said too !(because of the backlight -silouette)

[Shelley Grund]

Wonderful concept sketch. I did a large hawaiian mural with the same general idea... Not sure if it will help, but if you'd like to see how it turned out, follow this link:
http://www.shelleygrund.com/Murals/murals-hawaii.htm .
I also did a scene on a small wall segment:
http://www.shelleygrund.com/Murals/m...ical-beach.htm
Both of mine were painted directly on the wall - can't wait to hear how the application goes for you with the canvas. Looking forward to seeing the whole process!

[Ruth]

It's beautiful! If it's going in a furniture store, it will most likely have a sofa and/or tables in front of it, so keeping it simple will probably work best. You might want to show the decorator a photo of this and ask her opinion about adding anything else.

Ruth

[lcarlso4(Lori)]

Stacey:
This is absolutely beautiful!!!

As for the left side, you do a great job with shading and it seems the lightsource perspective is from behind, so maybe just some shadows on the sand of more palms to the left?

On the other hand, what Ruth said is very true, if there is furniture in front of it this becomes a moot point!!

Overall, you have captured a beautiful tropical scene.

Lori :-)

[Fauxgeddaboudit]

oooo - I love it! LOVE your color palette!! You're getting great advice here from others.. I just wanted to hop in to give some applause!!
Sue Ann

[travellight27]

Hey Sillk.....Sand is hot hot hot in the tropics. I would heat it up a bit with a mix of raw sienna and violet...a warmer neutral. Too much blue shadows could cool it down like snow. The underside of the leaves will have warm shadows reflecting off the sand, and the top sides of the leaves will have lighter blue green tones......Great job...I'm suddenly missing the beach!

[sillk]

Hi Everyone!

Thanks so much for your comments! I really appreciate all of the great advice. So many good suggestions...!

I have concluded that whatever needs to be added will be added after it's hung. I'm leaning towards adding another palm tree on the left, and a little foliage. I don't like how your eye sweeps to the left and then kinda floats without an anchor, so I think a palm tree will help. THe idea of painting a bird flying towards the left is really growing on me too. My sister suggested that I add things periodically, as a way to get more attention. In a month I'll add a bird. Maybe in another month I'll add a boat....doesn't that sound like fun?? BUt I will add structural things like the trees before the store opens. Trees don't grow that fast.

As far as furniture, there's a low teal divan/lounge thingy that's going in front of it. But what a good point. That's another reason to make additions after it's hung - just in case we use something else, which is definitely possible.

My weak spot is usually specific lighting, and this painting is a good example. While it works, the details don't really agree with each other as far as where the sun is. I think the reason this happens is that I collage a variety of photo reference and don't use my brain enough to think about the lighting. BUT! I'm not going to worry about it. Everytime I go back to paint, I'm surprised by how much I like the painting - since whenever I leave I'm usually disatisfied. And I am doing another mural almost exactly like this in a little sauna room next week, so I'll try your suggestions of highlighting the leaves and getting some reflected color on that one.

Shelley - I was wondering if you use photo reference or paint from memory. Your murals seem to be more spontaneous and cohesive.

Jeanette: we'll be using a semi permanent wall-paper type adhesive, gluing it right to the wall. It will be the first time I've done it without a professional so I"m a little nervous! But this canvas is small so I don't think it will be too bad. I use a combination of Nova and Liquitex acrylics.

Thanks again, it's great to get a little reassurance. Or a lot!
I'll post more photos when we get it hung!