Home › Forums › Explore Media › Watercolor › Watercolor Studio › Newbie – Help with wedding scene
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January 4, 2020 at 4:55 am #482216
Hi,
I’m very new to watercolour and art in general and was hoping to get some advice from this forum.
I decided to try paint a wedding picture as a gift to some friends of mine who got married. It’s definitely been challenging for where my abilities are at. I found it wasn’t very enjoyable – the pressure of painting it and trying not to ruin it sucked out some of the fun for me.
I’m looking for some advice on anything I can do to improve the painting.
Other more general advice/criticism on things I should have done different if I were to start again is welcome but go easy on me haha. One thing I definitely struggled with is lighting. I need to do more reading on light and shadows as I think it’s a bit mixed up in my painting.There’s a couple of things I know I’d like to try improve in the picture:
I made the lawn far too green I think – is there a way to tone it down?
For my other greens I mixed them with yellow and blue but I got lazy and used hookers green with some yellow ochre for the lawn. Lesson learned. I had tried to add some texture to the lawn but it mostly got lost.The skin tone of the couple is a little cartoony – possibly because it’s so red. I never added blue. Would blue shadows help?
I’m actually not sure how the couples shadow would fall so I’ve left it out for now.
The lighter foliage on the right hand side looks a bit lost.
Any other observations are welcome too!
Overall I’m still happy with it. It’s my first time painting a complete scene really with buildings and figures and still want to give it as a gift! So the last thing I want to do is overwork it or ruin it haha.
The painting is slightly smaller than A4. I used Windsor and Newton paints.
Thanks
January 4, 2020 at 5:17 am #928727Personally I’d enlarge to feature the couple. Once enlarged shadowing of the dress and couple will be easy.
The trees are are patterns rather than nature. The Windows need sharp edges and variety in their shading. Grass is too green uniform. Should fade back o e sunlight.
Best wishes
Annie
"On the other hand, you have different fingers".
Steven Wright
My Flickr SiteJanuary 5, 2020 at 1:21 am #928728Hi Macaroni29,
Welcome to Wetcanvas –
Your concerns are valid …
As Doppler suggests – if you enlarge the couple … you automatically reduce a lot of your concerns.
On the other hand – if you want to work with the painting ‘as is’ … then ~
There is a way to preview your changes without overworking your painting.
It is called Acetate Film.[/URL]
You place the acetate sheet over your painting and you can paint on the film.
This allows you to see what the changes might look like … without actually
painting on your painting.Or – watch this video to see how acetate film is used –
Once you are satisfied with how your painting might look – then apply your changes to the actual painting.
When it comes to skin color you might find Vermilion to be an excellent color for skin tones.
* (as Vermilion is a super strong color – test the strength first before applying – use a very light wash)If you keep the sky overcast – no need to be concerned about shadows of the couple on the grass.
On overcast days … colors will ‘pop’ on their own … ie. – the greens.
See below – my version of what an acetate overlay might look like – (I’ve done this in the PC)
I changed the color of the wall behind the couple so the couple would stand out. Test any colors of your choice for affect – on the acetate.
I whitened the brides gown for affect.
As for the lawn color – you actually have a happy accident. The deep lawn color ‘grounds’ your image… it adds a base tone upon which your couple is standing.
I would leave it as is.
Best regards,
Picassolite :thumbsup:PS – I hope you find the use of acetate film helpful as you continue painting.
January 5, 2020 at 5:27 am #928729Personally I’d enlarge to feature the couple. Once enlarged shadowing of the dress and couple will be easy.
The trees are are patterns rather than nature. The Windows need sharp edges and variety in their shading. Grass is too green uniform. Should fade back o e sunlight.
Best wishes
Thanks for your advice.
I originally thought about making the couple larger but I was worried they would be too challenging for me to paint in detail. If the opposite is true then that’s good to know for the future.
Thanks I’ll try straighten the window edges and add some variety.
Hi Macaroni29,
Welcome to Wetcanvas –
[B]Your concerns are valid … [/B]
As Doppler suggests – if you enlarge the couple … you automatically reduce a lot of your concerns.
[I]On the other hand[/I] – if you want to work with the painting ‘as is’ … then ~
[B]There is a way to preview[/B] your changes without overworking your painting.
It is called [URL=https://www.grafixarts.com/products/acetate-film/]Acetate Film.[/URL]
You place the acetate sheet over your painting and you can paint on the film.
This allows you to see what the changes might look like … without actually
painting on your painting.Or – [URL=https://youtu.be/eCRXpePyYno]watch this video[/URL] to see how acetate film is used –
Once you are satisfied with how your painting might look – then apply your changes to the actual painting.
When it comes to skin color you might find Vermilion to be an excellent color for skin tones.
* (as Vermilion is a super strong color – test the strength first before applying – use a very light wash)[B]If you keep the sky overcast[/B] – no need to be concerned about shadows of the couple on the grass.
On overcast days … colors will ‘pop’ on their own … ie. – the greens.
See below – my version of what an acetate overlay might look like – (I’ve done this in the PC)
[IMG]http://s3.amazonaws.com/wetcanvas-hdc/Community/images/05-Jan-2020/1983103-my_wedding_0.jpg[/IMG]
I changed the color of the wall behind the couple so the couple would stand out. Test any colors of your choice for affect – on the acetate.
I whitened the brides gown for affect.
As for the lawn color – you actually have a happy accident. The deep lawn color ‘grounds’ your image… it adds a base tone upon which your couple is standing.
I would leave it as is.
Best regards,
Picassolite :thumbsup:[B]PS [/B]– I hope you find the use of acetate film helpful as you continue painting.
Thanks for your reply.
Yes I don’t think I’d want to start again so I’ll keep working on it as is whatever happens haha.
That’s really interesting! I’ll try find some acetate sheets!
Ah ok, yes I could increase the shading on the front wall of the balcony section? I don’t want to change the colour completely though.
Oh well happy accidents are always nice! I’ll keep the dark colour but maybe try add some more variety as suggested by doppler.
Thanks
Unhelpfully I can’t find my source image but here is an image of the building itself for reference.
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