Well I didn't get anything more done on this until last night. After a totally exhausting day of "closing the pool", I did a bit on the water and added some more colour into the blacks of the background trees. I don't like the band of burnt orange in the shrubs on the left - I think it looks out of place. (I think it looks out of place on Homer's original too, though.)
I'm finding that I can get some good colour bursts in the blacks by using paint straight from the tube then softening it with just a touch of water once it's laid onto the black. (Example, yellow ochre.)
I keep pondering over that big mauve tree with it's wet-noodle-branches. I guess since it's a pastiche, I'll follow his colours and shapes, but .......... I still don't understand.
One thing I love about pastiches is the way you study the original soooooo closely. You notice the tiniest of brushstrokes and study them intently, gradually forming such an understanding of what the artist was trying to accomplish and why. You kind of get into his/her head. After this one though, I'm going back to my own work. Pastiches are a wonderful learning tool but to keep it real, you have to live in your own paintings rather than someone else's, or you're going to lose yourself and just not know how to paint on your own. So, that being said, right after this one, I think I'll go back to my jellyfish which have been leaning against the wall for a few weeks now. I've found that if I want to get new ideas for an unfinished painting, all I have to do is leave it out in the open. Then, I can't keep my eyes off of it nor free my thoughts from it and it's possibilities. Pretty soon, I'm itching to get back to it. Right now, I'm itching to get into that jellyfish!
Okay, here's the latest on the Homer pastiche, followed by the last progress pic and the original.
I'm finding that I can get some good colour bursts in the blacks by using paint straight from the tube then softening it with just a touch of water once it's laid onto the black. (Example, yellow ochre.)
I keep pondering over that big mauve tree with it's wet-noodle-branches. I guess since it's a pastiche, I'll follow his colours and shapes, but .......... I still don't understand.
One thing I love about pastiches is the way you study the original soooooo closely. You notice the tiniest of brushstrokes and study them intently, gradually forming such an understanding of what the artist was trying to accomplish and why. You kind of get into his/her head. After this one though, I'm going back to my own work. Pastiches are a wonderful learning tool but to keep it real, you have to live in your own paintings rather than someone else's, or you're going to lose yourself and just not know how to paint on your own. So, that being said, right after this one, I think I'll go back to my jellyfish which have been leaning against the wall for a few weeks now. I've found that if I want to get new ideas for an unfinished painting, all I have to do is leave it out in the open. Then, I can't keep my eyes off of it nor free my thoughts from it and it's possibilities. Pretty soon, I'm itching to get back to it. Right now, I'm itching to get into that jellyfish!
Okay, here's the latest on the Homer pastiche, followed by the last progress pic and the original.
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