The Green House & 100 Paintings

[Trikist]

Golden Open Acrylics 6X8 with a limited palette over a red underpainting.
Ultramarine Blue
Cad Yellow Primrose (light)
Permanent Alizarin Crimson
Phthalo Blue (GS)
Titanium White
I may have to add Cad Yellow Medium to get more warmth.

Other than a lot of miscues, the painting was okay by me. I guess I wonder the most about some shadows being too dark. Thanks for any comments or suggestions.

100 Paintings. I took a watercolor class about 20 years ago. Another student told me that I would need to do a 100 paintings to get one that I like. (I did not count but she might have been optimistic.) Larry Seiler says the same about Plein Air painting. Reading Kevin McPherson, he advocates doing 100 "Starts" for practice. I do not doubt the validity; but, I do wonder where this "100" business got started.

Enjoying every mislaid stroke of the brush. Gary

[Davkin]

I personally disagree about the 100 paintings thing. I'm loathful to attach any kind of fixed number as the magic goal to reach to achieve any certain level of competence. While it's a universal fact that anybody needs to put in many hours of study and practice at something to get good at it, everybody learns and developes at different speeds. Also other factors will influence how fast someone will learn, for example the level of personal instruction, knowledge, passion, the type of practice, etc. All that said, getting 100 plein air paintings done in a certain frame is definately a worthwhile goal especially if it motivates you, but don't think that you'll finally "get it" after 100 paintings, it may come after 60, or 80 or maybe not for 150 and the reality is you could do 2000 paintings and you'll still be learning something. It's a fine goal as a matter of practice but don't look at it as a magic formula and the end, but rather as a means of motivation to practice. Personally I'm more of a fan of setting goals in terms of hours/week. If you put in the time for practice and study, eventually progress will be made and for me it's all about making regular progress, not reaching some predetermined set point, assuming it's even possible to even define a set point in artistic competence.

As for your painting I think it's well done, values are spot on and the perspective of the house is very good.

David

[treeshark]

Looking good, perhaps a little more red in the greens, natural greens have more red in them than you would expect. As to the 100 thing, bah nonsense, you might get lucky on no 12 or 1200! Just do your very best each time and it will come.
Rob

[Trikist]

David. Glad you liked the picture. I did not take the number seriously, only the idea that it would not happen overnight. I may have a weird mind, but I was curious on who first thought of "100" as the goal.

Rob. I painted another picture recently with lots of oranges in my greens and notice how much more life-like it appeared. I think I just need to start looking for it. Thanks for the comments.

Regards, Gary

[treeshark]

Try adding Alizarin it has less yellow in it. Do a few tests to see what you like.
Rob

[Davkin]

I like to make my greens using yellow ochre, (yellow oxide) and ultramarine blue. Yellow ochre is basically a grayed yellow orange so it already has some red and blue in it. I think it makes much more natural greens and is easy to mix. It's easy enough to bring the intensity back up if needed just by adding a little cad yellow light.

David

[Kmart]

The hope, for me, was to be able to know what I was looking for after 100 paintings. I'll bet after 10,000 I might have a clue!

[Trikist]

Rob Thanks again. I redid the painting using A. Crimson more liberally. The greens were livelier. Still, I need a lot more practice to make it believable.

David I have used yellow ochre & yellow oxide before for greens. I just need to include more options to get a little greater variety of greens.

Kyle "I'll bet after 10,000 I might have a clue!" You are doing all right to my tastes. Your color sense seems great to me.

Thanks again, Gary

[Davkin]

Originally Posted by Trikist

David I have used yellow ochre & yellow oxide before for greens. I just need to include more options to get a little greater variety of greens.

Once you have a base green all you really need/can to do is go warmer or cooler, lighter or darker. You don't need a whole box full of tubes to do that. Too many options is worse than not enough.

David

[tj84]

I saw a painting video and the lady showed how to mix more natural greens by using yellow and black... and it works, then you warm or cool as needed..
I ordered a lot more yellow & black...after testing it out.

[baptist]

Yep, I use also yellow ocher and black often.
It gives a wonderful green..................................jan

[Trikist]

David. Thanks again. I intend to work with a limited palette of primaries for a while.

Tj84. I think I saw the same video. I tried it a bit but am trying to work with primaries to get a bit more color in my work now. It could be that I did not push it far enough. I need to stick to something for a while.

Baptist. Did you see this thread.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=928819

It was a fascinating use of black and earth tones. It is a project for another day.

Thanks again, Gary

[Davkin]

Originally Posted by Trikist

David. Thanks again. I intend to work with a limited palette of primaries for a while.

Oh, didn't realize that. Rob's reccomendation to put more red in your green mixtures is appropriate then.

David

[dgford]

It isn't 100 paintings really. It is 127-and- a-half. He couldn't count beyond 100 and he forgot the one that got caught in the rain !!
Why do we love beautifully round numbers?
My trouble is knowing where to stash all these paintings --- and that is with using the backs of the less successful.
Geoff