Wednesday, July 28, 2010

"Lilacs and Twilight" -- revisited


"Lilacs and Twilight" - Oil - 11" x 14"

"I'm always attracted to a tranquil scene and this fit the bill perfectly. All was in cool shadow and backlit by the evening sky. The rough condition of the barn synced with the profusion of lilac shrubs left untended. Their chaotic condition added just enough action and texture to draw the eye." --- SFG

NOTE TO ARTISTS: I remember a comment by Bill Reese years ago to a suggestion that a just-completed painting was ready to go on a gallery wall. He said, "I like them to hang around the studio for a while." I took that to mean that it takes a while for the artist to see the work with a fresh, unprejudiced eye in order to see the painting's strong and weak points.

If you look back to my blog on October 9, 2009, you'll see this work in progress. Still, over time, something just didn't look right to me, like the color of the roof and the way the driveway was such a strong diagonal that it led the eye up too fast. Today, I put the painting back on the easel and made some changes.

The before and after:





Adding the reflections from the part of the sky that would be behind me adjusted the color of the roof and related it better to the areas no longer lit by the sun. By adding the bush in the lower right, the shape of the driveway was changed considerably and negated the harsh diagonal movement.

1 comment:

Kerri Settle said...

The changes look great; I especially like what you did with the roof. The whole painting has a great atmosphere!