WIP Another street scene – SW France

[Patrick Barrie]

There are two figures at the bottom, one at the far left, the other at the right
(with sunglasses). They are cut off at the waist and seem to be a little large in scale. A little distracting, perhaps the composition does not need them?

[Reed Jones]

Thanks for the suggestion! Some people have commented that they like the figures in the foreground. Hard to reconcile how to replace them. I don’t think leaving the space empty would be good. I will confirm whether I drew them to scale before I paint them, however, and adjust as needed. Thanks, again!

www.reedmichaeljones.com

Critiques and feedback are welcomed!

[Reed Jones]

Okay, here’s what I love about painting & drawing. I took measurements of both foreground figures and while both were to scale, both of them had slightly oversized heads (by about 2mm on a 40″ x 30″ canvas). I made the adjustment and I think I’ve solved the problem! Thanks Boogiechile!

So interesting how much difference very small adjustments make!

www.reedmichaeljones.com

Critiques and feedback are welcomed!

[Reed Jones]

Still grinding away on this. Having little victories, here and there, but no big breakthrough day yet.

www.reedmichaeljones.com

Critiques and feedback are welcomed!

[Bizzibee]

I admire you great attention to detail, Reed. I love that great green jacket too!

'One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star': Friedrich Nietzsche

[KreativeK Moderator]

Reed, this is phenomenal! Lots to look at in it.

Kay

Moderator: Watermedia, Mixed Media, Abstract/Contemporary

[Reed Jones]

Thanks, Bizz! Thanks, Kay!

I’m posting the center 1/3rd of this very large (40″ x 30″) canvas for a couple reasons:
1). This is where I’ve been spending all my time, so I thought a close-up would be appropriate.
2). I’m almost thinking I may re-stretch this painting onto a smaller frame if some of the things I’m worried about on the outer edges do, in fact, turn out badly.

There are some balconies with elaborate supports in the upper right quadrant (and those darn clowns and big-headed guys in the foreground) that were hard enough to draw and I’m thinking painting won’t be any easier, even though I already threw a bunch of time into the male clown’s jacket and hair.

What do you think, fellow painters? Should I just keep working from the center out and quit when I’ve had enough? Easy enough to pull this off and re-stretch.

www.reedmichaeljones.com

Critiques and feedback are welcomed!

[Bizzibee]

It is progessing well, Reed. I like the contrasts of the darks and lights in the buildings. What you propose seems like a no-risk strategy, to me. It would be easy to say complete it all, but I suppose ultimately you need to decide how much time you are prepared to spend on it. If you are spending more on it than you think it deserves, you risk getting disillusioned with it and that is not good. I have no doubt, if you did paint the difficult areas, you would make a sucess of them, however.

For me, cropping the left side would be the preferable option, if you wanted to reduce it, and whilst that would get rid of one of the guys and some buldings it wouldn’t tackle the more difficult parts. I am sure you will get lots of good advice and in the meantime just keep painting it!

'One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star': Friedrich Nietzsche

[Reed Jones]

Can’t get better advice than yours, Bizz. I will probably TRY to paint all of it. I guess I’m lucky all the hardest stuff is around the edges, so I can just go w/ it until I either finish, or decide to re-crop.

www.reedmichaeljones.com

Critiques and feedback are welcomed!

[Reed Jones]

Updated pic. Now that I’ve started putting a “top” on this painting, I’m back to liking the original size. So long as I don’t seriously botch anything, I’ll leave it at 40″ x 30″.

I made the sunny side of the street sunnier, so I don’t have to make the side in shadow too dark. Sunnier is easier than darker, if you ask me.

www.reedmichaeljones.com

Critiques and feedback are welcomed!

[jocko500]

super looking

ideas is like the stars in Heaven, just grab one and hang on and if it do not work out grab another one:)

[Bizzibee]

You seem to have managed those difficult parts very well, Reed. The colours are harmonising beautifully. I think that is perhaps one the dangers in painting such a complicated and busy scene: if there are too many unconnected colours, it can end up looking a bit disparate (if that makes sense!) – not so here.

'One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star': Friedrich Nietzsche

[Reed Jones]

Thanks, Bizz! I was fortunate that the French residents of St Jean-de-Luz apparently favored some variant of red for their building trim. Here’s an update!

www.reedmichaeljones.com

Critiques and feedback are welcomed!

[Reed Jones]

Finally got the sunny side of the street sunny enough. Whites are surprisingly difficult. Feel good about where I’m heading now.

www.reedmichaeljones.com

Critiques and feedback are welcomed!

[Bizzibee]

You have every right to feel good about this Reed. It is looking wonderful! The perspective is perfect, and the detail on the buildings is a delight to look at. It reminds me of a picture you see on a box of those impossible jigsaws, which is so hard to do because of all the subtle colour shifts: most people are too intimidated to take it on, but you have risen to the challenge!

'One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star': Friedrich Nietzsche

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