Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Twilight


Here is the finished study of the farm. I spent numerous nights painting the scene from life, and one of those nights the sky looked incredible. At the time I wasn't sure (and I am still unsure) if I wanted such an active sky in the final piece, but still I couldn't resist painting it. The study shows the sky on that night, and I've adjusted it (and a few other things) in the value study. Let me know what you think. Also, I'm not sure if I am going to keep the title because I don't want any relation to those books/movies.

Twilight
15.5" x 30"




12 comments:

Steve Baker said...

I think it looks great. I think you should call it what you like. Most people interested in landscape probably will not be so interested in teen vampire movies. In a couple years it will be the same and no one will be thinking of the movies anyway. Fads pass.

Kyler Dannels said...

I love the saturated, punch of the sky against the subdued majority of the picture.

I didn't even think of the vampire books/films when I saw the post title (and I'm definitely up on pop culture.) My guess is that "Twilight" is as safe a title for a painting as "Autumn" or "Meadow."

Great work.

gumkid said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gumkid said...

I love the sky, not on any critical stance but just like it very much. I also love the comp and multiple vanishing points. Twilight as a title does immediately refer to the effect that the night would have on those beautiful young men, and I dont see anything sparkling since the sun hasnt set yet in this painting.

artybecca said...

I love the orange sky!

Rendez said...

hmm...yep...my mind is blown all over the back wall. Great. Thanks a lot.

Alexander said...

I love the color, atmosphere and the image........awesome!!

drawatron said...

im buying this painting when its done

Kenny Drews said...

Emily and I were talking about this piece and we think that the color study is more heavy handed than the value study and, I think we both agree, it isn't for the better. It would be better to say that the Value study is more delicate. I think you've lost some of the nice sweeping shapes of the landscape in the color study. The lake shape is less specific and the left-hand-side's overall dip is less dramatic in a way that I think hurts the piece.

Kenny Again... said...

Oh, okay, One more thing. You're not 100% on the Sky in the color study. I think that is because in the Value Drawing, the house is where our eye goes. The viewer is given a huge open space and wants to get to that house. The intense sky changes that. Instead we push past everything to that bright spot without too much want of moving around.

I think if you moved that sky you loved so much over, maybe not all the way to the house, then you'd be more satisfied.

Emily said...

I second the motion! And I would like to add that I think the value study answers any and all problems of the color study - it seems like if your final piece follows your value plan, then the colors you've played out in the color study will work wonderfully.

danny robbins said...

Thanks for all the feedback, guys and gals.

Kenny and Emily - I THIRD your critiques. In the most recent value study I sought to fix the issues I had with the old value study and the color study. When I initially set out to create the painting, the sun was setting right behind the house. By the time I started the color study, the sun had moved much further to the right, which is why you see it that way in the color study. To remedy this issue, I revisited the value scale, moved the sky to the left, and thus arrived at the most recent composition. Also, in Photoshop I flipped the composition to see it in reverse. This showed me that the horizon line needed to shift counterclockwise because the trees on the left were too heavy and got too close to the top edge of the composition. Good eyes!