Saturday I drove to Boulder to hook up with Pat. She had suggested we go to
Teller Farms open space to paint. What an amazing place. And what a gorgeous day we had. The forecast had called for wind, but we painted until mid-afternoon before the wind came up. We hiked on the trail to our first spot just short of a pond. Above is the 16"x10" painting I did at this location. I have tried a myriad of times since Saturday to reshoot this photo without the glare on the sweeping clouds in the upper left hand corner, to no avail. After lunch, Pat suggested we change places but I decided to head back to the road to paint the farm outbuildings while she stayed and painted this same scene facing the foothills. The following painting is 12"x9" and I am standing right at the shoulder of the road. Pat was right, it is a fairly busy road, but I loved the building block feel with the very white reflective barn roofs.
You have to love digital photography as an artist. As soon as you see the digital photo you see glaring "issues" with your painting, dispassionately. Or at least I sure do. In both of these finished pieces I see things I will most likely "fix." Minor changes, relatively speaking, but I think they will improve the work overall. In the top painting I am not liking the grasses and the foreground ridges of the flat ground. In the bottom painting the bales of hay in the upper left-hand corner are not reading well and also the crows on the barn are just at tad too dark in value. The foreground grass field may also require some attention. I am still, overall, very happy with the days work.
Saturday I drove to Boulder to hook up with Pat. She had suggested we go to Teller Farms open space to paint. What an amazing place. And what a gorgeous day we had. The forecast had called for wind, but we painted until mid-afternoon before the wind came up. We hiked on the trail to our first spot just short of a pond. Above is the 16"x10" painting I did at this location. I have tried a myriad of times since Saturday to reshoot this photo without the glare on the sweeping clouds in the upper left hand corner, to no avail. After lunch, Pat suggested we change places but I decided to head back to the road to paint the farm outbuildings while she stayed and painted this same scene facing the foothills. The following painting is 12"x9" and I am standing right at the shoulder of the road. Pat was right, it is a fairly busy road, but I loved the building block feel with the very white reflective barn roofs.
You have to love digital photography as an artist. As soon as you see the digital photo you see glaring "issues" with your painting, dispassionately. Or at least I sure do. In both of these finished pieces I see things I will most likely "fix." Minor changes, relatively speaking, but I think they will improve the work overall. In the top painting I am not liking the grasses and the foreground ridges of the flat ground. In the bottom painting the bales of hay in the upper left-hand corner are not reading well and also the crows on the barn are just at tad too dark in value. The foreground grass field may also require some attention. I am still, overall, very happy with the days work.
5 comments:
Victoria,
An uninformed comment on the glare you are experiencing in the photo. If you are using the projector fixture in its original location, maybe shading the fixture to the left or redirecting it away from this painting. This is a bit wider than usual. Very beautiful, even with the glare.
Jim
Jim
I was using the lights over the easel - I am too lazy to set up for the projecter light unless I am taking the photos for a juried show or to print. When I have a bunch of paintings to do,I set up there with Grant's camera and tripod, but not for the day to day photos.
Victoria,
Then the same method that you used to knock down the glare on the working paintings should work here. The brightness from the lamps, (bulbs), is much stronger in the center of the pattern, so aim for the fringe and then tune the dimmers down just a notch or two. Too much dimming will change the color temp of the light and introduce other problems.
Jim
Ok, I am going to try it and hope I don't mess up the lights.
Your good eye and steady hand will get the light where needed and out of where it isn't. Jim
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