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  • #1563323
    Linda
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        ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

        Inspired by a picture that was abstract, and actually reversing the idea more into an idea. I added the bike to complete the story.

        Just Do it!
        #1563471

        Love the addition of the bike.

        Please add this to whatever forum for the medium, I’m assuming acrylics? You’ll get more comments and views.

         

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        #1564136
        MarkSzy
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            Hi Linda,

            I don’t normally comment or critique on Abstract work since it isn’t my thing. I use abstract ideas in my design, but my paintings lean more towards realism. Since you haven’t garnered any comments, I will throw my hat in the ring.

            Design…

            • Simple geometric flat shapes.
            • Color mostly analogous and harmonious.
            • Fairly unified. Large shapes on the upper 2/3rds.
            • Road/sidewalk. Small and fiddly shapes unrelated to the rest of the color scheme.
            • bicycle? Small fiddly shape unrecognizable in the photograph. I thought when looking at it in the photo it was a round pair of glasses.
            • Depth. Very compressed. No perspective with color, atmosphere, or design elements. Flat plane only.
            • Texture – only given by scumbling color over other colors.
            • Edges – very hard throughout painting. All geometric are hard edged.
            • Line work – hard, graceless. No curves.
            • All middle tones except for windows and doors. Darkish and fiddly sidewalk/road.

            This is very much your work, however I think there were some design ideas which could have been expanded upon.

            I think the biggest missed opportunity here would have been to place one or two things in the foreground. If you had moved the bicycle forward, leaned it against something (tree, box, pole, person etc) you could have created a painting with more narrative than what is presented. The lean would have contrasted with all the flat shapes. It would have created a dynamic shape to contrast all the flat shapes. The ellipse created by placing the round wheels in perspective especially if the front wheel was turned and so had a different angle from the back wheel.

            Another possibility would be to create stronger shadow shapes from the roof lines than what you did. Keeping the masses large and simple. The idea is to subordinate the smaller variations and details to the larger shapes on which they ride. If you squint at the painting, you lose the darker shapes under the roof lines and thus aren’t adding to the paintings depth, description, or envelope. The shadows should still have the base color note at the center of the color of the shadow if you want to keep it most realistic or the base color added to whatever reflected light you which to create.

            Creating some lights and darks in the road/sidewalk would have been helpful to unify that portion of the painting with that above. Changing the value alone would have helped. In my mind there isn’t a reason to paint all of the individual cobblestones, since the rest of the painting is flat, I think it was a mistake to place all of the detail in the painting in an area you didn’t really want the eye to look at. It draws the eye unnecessarily and creates a visual fence. Some unification with the upper portions of the painting could have helped.

            I would consider looking at “Early Sunday Morning” by Edward Hopper for a master class on simplification of shapes and design on a similar flat buildings and how to construct a narrative. Some edges to the door frames, some cast shadows, some design in the windows, all simple and creating variety while holding onto the “bigness” of the design.

            Another idea to unify the top and bottom would have been to make the pavement wet and thus reflective where you could have poured the color of the buildings into the pavement as well. I placed a quick simplified version of it below.

            This allows for the colors to be brought to the bottom of the painting helping to draw the eye past the flat. Obviously this just a quick idea and not complete, but the gist of it is there.

            All the best,

            Mark

             

             

            Painting was easy until I learned how.

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