The issues. First here is the reference photo I used for the botched painting:
Not bad right? I thought so too, and no its not a bad picture nor a bad reference. However the perspective on this one is a bit more "intense" than some of the other pictures I have. Here is the picture that I used for the second reference:
Yea, I know it doesn't look much different does it? However, notice the middle, where the focus is going to be. Notice how the lines for the windows and the ledges/rooftops are more slanted in the first picture than the second? This is the lines of perspective that make it "look" 3-D. Typically this doesn't present a problem, unless you sketch it wrong:
Now it looks like the buildings are "falling" to the left instead of going off into the distance. Mistake #1! Here is where I realize that often using a tool is sometimes helpful in making your sketch correct. In the corrected painting I plotted the points and used a ruler to make the lines work with each other instead of making the buildings fall over. (yea, forgot that picture!)
Now, I liked the look of the first one without the 'ugly' boat in the front and stuff. so we have to crop the second photo to resemble the first.
Okay so now we have the picture. Now where else did we go wrong?
Well do you remember from the first Boldt painting how we chose two complementary colors to use and only used these to paint the whole painting? Here is where color choice can be very very important. I had a great idea in mind of what I wanted to say with the colors, the light, and the subject of the painting. The story of George Boldt and his wife is a very romantic, yet tragic story for his wife never got to see his gift to her (he had the castle built for her but she died before it was finished). With the colors I wanted it to resemble a sunset (like the sunset of their love with her death) but yet full of soft pinks and reds that would immediately bring to mind romance.
So in the first painting I chose red and green, thinking I could get a reddish gold color to the building that would resemble the reflection of the setting sun.
If you notice, I also put the horizon (where the building meets the sky) up into the top half of the painting. I wanted it to look larger than life. This also forced me to bring some of the highlights into the trees more into the red/light color category so that the building doesn't get blocked nor seem like its floating in space. It is necessary to anchor the subject so the viewer moves into the painting smoothly, not feel out of balance when looking at it. So here I brought the trees in the front of my focal point (the windows and tower) more into the light. They were supposed reflect the light of the sky similar in color to the building.
The red here is my light color and the green my dark. Unbeknownst to me, when you mix certain reds with certain greens you get a very purple color! Yea, I was unprepared for that. Notice the dark purples in the building? Yea, I didn't expect nor anticipate that.
So, here is where I made my second mistake. Seeing the purples and the reds and greens, I thought I should add more yellows and oranges to the painting to bring out more of the "sunset" look I was going for. I should have stuck to my guns and kept the colors I was creating, using those to their fullest instead of second guessing myself.
So, now that we have covered the oopsies, lets see how it turned out after I reworked it.
Yes, I started with a fresh canvas and redrew the painting using the second reference. Notice here the buildings don't look like they are falling over. This picture still has some of the "lines" a bit off, but that was work in progress so it happens!
This time I stuck to the strictly red and green colors I chose the first time. I embraced the purple instead of trying to counter it. The sky doesn't look it so much here, but the upper left is actually quite dark greenish. Also the building is very pink. I still had a few "rewrites" with the main focal point, but that will happen.
Here we lightened it up and warmed it up a bit more. The first pink was a bit too cool of a color to look like it was reflected from a setting sun. Remember, that is the other look we are going for, though this time I tried not to focus so much on it. I tried to remain more "romantic" feeling than sunset. If the sunset happened it did, if not I still got some of the romantic vibe I was going for.
The lines are matching up better and it doesn't look so "off" now.
Started adding in the trees. Now, my focus was to have dark trees on each side with a sort of path of light in between that "points" to the focal point. Yea, these trees were "green" mostly with some red here or there, just somehow it all turned purple! Interestingly this adds unity to the painting for all the colors are of a similar make up. Even the pinks and light greens are varying shades of red and green mixed together.
Okay so here we can see the bright reds going up to the building. There are reds and pinks throughout that cause the eye to move through the painting, while the focus sits mainly with the front of the building and the tower. This makes for a visually pleasing piece.
And here we are. In this last one you can see the greens in the sky a bit more. Also with the intense darks and bright lights it does look more like a sunset type. The front of the building is the lightest part which also draws the eye.
Fairly Romantic don't we think? The first painting has some flaws that might be fixed at a later date. The color combination is not a bad one, nor is the perspective that far off. It is, unfortunately, extremely difficult (at the stage I am in, others might not find it this way) to "fix" these in a wet on wet technique. So, since I'm not afraid of making mistakes and starting over, we'll put it away to dry for now and maybe revive it at a later date. At this point I wanted to create the idea I had in my head for the vision and story is more important to the failures and attempts.
I hope you enjoyed reading through my process and seeing the final result. Next week we'll go through another idea, tell another story, and try something new!
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