I recently volunteered some advise on how to solve a painting problem to one of our fellow bloggers. Before hitting that submit button I re-read what I had written and in that crazy way we have of talking to ourselves, I said why don’t you follow your own advise.
This is a study I started as a result. I am trying to let the different colors create the form in the faces, eventually losing most if not all of the drawing lines. The other issue I am looking to work out is the merging of the two heads
Bob: is there are larger version we can look at somewhere?
Bob, it seems to me that the lines you have left in there are working for you. By not perfectly following the edge of the from, they imply movement, and also create a pleasing tension between the illusion of depth and the picture plane. Degas used this device often, as did Warhol.
Regarding the merging of the two heads, is it that you want them to merge, or you want to separate them? If you want them to separate, you can do so by darkening the hair on top of the woman’s head and strengthening the contrast between that area and the bg, possibly w/ a line or at least a sharper edge.
You could also add a subtle line between the top or her forehead and the man’s face. But if the stuff you do to the hair area separates that enough from the bg you might not need to do any more than that.
Hi Colin there is a large version on my blog http://www.bobbys.wordpress.com.
Hi David, thanks for the feedback and suggestions, all helpful. I am still working on this painting and one of my issues is that I get fixated on one of the faces and then encounter difficulty trying to develop the second. So In this case I went about trying to work most of the canvas at the same time. I will re-post on my blog when I am done.
Bob,
This is a powerful composition. You also have created a strong sense of form. The two faces fit together expressively. Both seem to reflect a sense of distance, even alienation. Is that an intention, or only my interpretation?
I like the unfinished, drawing quality seen on the white shirt and the middle of the left side. But the dark black outline of the man’s hair bothers me a bit, when I focus on it. This outline seems to create a strong edge that is somehow unjustified — it doesn’t look unfinished, like the shirt, but it also does not fit into an illusion of 3-d form that you create elsewhere. If that a fair criticism, or am I missing an aspect of your statement?
Karl, I actually find myself relying on that outline of hair as a focal point (not the only one) to move my eye around the picture. If the woman’s hair (or at least the back edge of her head) had some of that type of focus (not necessarily achieved in the same way) it would stop her from being pulled into the background. Especially if it managed to anchor that part of her head more to the right picture edge, which in itself would bring her forward.
Good point David. Perhaps if the outline of the hair were a bit less continuous, it would serve the purpose you mention just as well. Compared to the lines of the shirt, the hair outline is solid and continuous. Compared, that is.
The outlines are a high-spatial-frequency component of the picture. If you look from a greater distance, they become less visible, certainly in the hair.
I don’t think you should try to merge the two heads. The placing of the bodies and the implied direction of their gazes suggests two figures that are close but isolated. It almost suggests a photomontage. A good way to separate the two further (if that’s what you want to do), is to extend upwards the dark brown triangle that occupies the middle of the bottom edge. You could also make the surrounding colors lighter. Also, blending the triangle with the neck lines might soften their severity (again, if that’s what you want to do). Karl’s suggestion for the man’s hair is good. You could also make the hair itself less continuous.
That is, you could make the relationship between the hair and the outline less continuous.
I think Arthur’s point about it suggesting a photomontage is to the point, because even though each face is well modeled, I don’t have a sense of them being in the same space or a sense of the distance between them. The strong highlight on the man’s forehead suggests the light is coming from behind the viewer’s left shoulder, but the highlights on her face are more subtle – is her hair casting a shadow across her face? or is she not in the same light source? But both faces have a very strong presence.
I sort of labor over my work, so changes happen rapidly. Because (in most cases) I am making stuff up, I keep painting until I recognized someone in the painting. They begin to remind me of someone I’ve seen someplace. When I’m done with this painting I will re-post. I’m certain it will look different.
Bob, I got a loading error when I went to your site. Not sure if it was you or me. As it is late here, and I may not get to make a timely contribution, I’ll throw in a thought that I had when reading the comments from the others:
A photographer rarely (I won’t say never) shows a piece that isn’t finished.
In this last week I have commented on both sculpture and painting artworks that were openly in progress.
(I’m not talking about sets, portfolios or series here, but individual pieces).
I’ve never thought about this before. It must influence the way that we think about what we do.
Are you all going to sign this?
Bob, I love your paintings but my favorite ones are the African color skin people that make the paintings so striking and beautiful!!! You paint them with so much charisma and personality…
I love the way you apply your bright colors contrasting with each other, but not too much over the top, just right!
I am so looking forward to see the painting of the woman I asked you in your blog.
Your friend and admirer (hug)
Are you all going to sign this?
Yes we are. You can just use your initial.
But then you’ll have to use ‘P’, David.
Oh, I was going to use my whole name. Maybe even a middle name too, if I can think of a good one. I was just responding to “D”, in case he/she wanted to sign it too.
Wouldn’t it take up too much space if we all did that?
:)
Works in progress are almost always impacted by feedback. As much as you try to not get invested in what other people think there is this thing that goes on in your brain that says “how can I please them”. I will write more on this on my next post.
The way I liked to work is to keep going until there nothing else to say. Let the painting set around the house for a couple of weeks and if I still like it sign it.