Together - WIP - oils in Painter.

[DArcy1]

The first thing that I notice is that your shadows are just a darker version of the object's color; that is, flower petals are only light or dark purple. However shadows are more than that. A first strategy is to desaturate the intensity of the purple shadow, you can do this by blending in a complementary color (yellow, I think) Same for the green stems, except there mix in some red into the green.

But let's make it more complicated - It's all about light sources. There are two light sources in your image: A strong, warm, yellow light (the sun) and a weaker, cool, blue light (the sky). Anything not in direct sunlinght is lit by the skybowl. So areas out of the sun are lit by a weak, blue light. That means your shadow areas have some blue in them.

Except the underside of the flower petals which are largely lit by light reflecting from the grass...

Stems are also lit to some degree by purple light passing through the petals, as is any cast shadow on the grass.

Hope that helps a bit

D'Arcy

[rluto77]

Thank you for the suggestions. Painting shadows have always been very tough for me. I'm giong to try that out and see what happens.

[rluto77]

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii38/rluto77/Flowercompositionrevisionver11new.jpg

Okay, I went ahead and mixed some complimentary colors into the shadows, but the pic size is 18x20 inches, so shrunken down its a little bit hard to notice. I also made some changes to the foreground, the bud, and the petals and leaves, all pretty minor.

I'm just not sure what else I should do. I'm not sure if the background is fine the way it is...it just feels like its missing something.

[rluto77]

Can anyone please provide general feedback on the guality of the work, color choices, positioning of the elements, etc?

Just looking for some generalized feedback wether it be negative or positive, I don't really care, I'm always looking for ways to improve.

[CybrGfx]

Okay. Because you specifically asked. ONLY because you specifically asked, okay?

There is an old saying, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything." While somewhat useless in a forum designated for critiques, it nevertheless is very appropros when a work shows a lot, and I mean a LOT of visible time and effort, and is a "nice enough" work, and people don't want to say anything that will detract from the work.

It doesn't happen often. Many times, a work gets few to no comments, because it is either of such low quality or distasteful subject matter, that the general populace of professional forums such as these, simply look, and walk away. "If you can't say something nice..."

This piece is almost achingly beautiful in the detailing of the pistils and the petals, and the grass. The shading and colors of the leaves are soft and very 3-Dimensional. The high alpine atmosphere and camera angle place the viewer in a high, crisp, atmosphere. This is a good piece for all the effort you have put into it.

But...

It does not evoke the feeling of isolated togetherness that you are attempting. The composition is a direct, "in your face" painting of some fantasy flowers in an alpine meadow on a partly cloudy day.

The proportions of your SO beautifully painted stems are far too thick for any type of real flower, and the leaves are far too tiny. These imagined fantasy flowers first are nowhere near each other, although the frontmost three are closer than the one and a half up towards the right. The grass is green, the flowers very healthy looking, what part of the close proximity is supposed to put them "together?" Since they are fantasy flowers, why not put them closer and entwined, with the "child" bud then sprouting from between them? If it is symbolism you are striving for, you can be subtle, but you still need to be obvious...

The mountain background is better than your OP, but still a blurry mess that kind of hurts to look at it. While I can understand your desire to paint an accurate Depth of Focus blur, a mountain that large would still be more focused than you have rendered it.

The only other major issue with this piece is that of lighting. The grass needs to have the same direction and strength of sunlight that you have on the stems and leaves. At present, you have some light areas behind the flowers, but large darker shaded areas in front and to the right of them. You may find it easier to do that detailing if you thin out that grass a bit. It looks like a freshly mown and close cropped lawn. Wild meadow grasses don't look like that, but it's your fanstasy, you just need to make your lighting consistent. This applies to the petals, as well, which at present show no directional lighting whatsoever.

Please don't get me wrong. It is a NICE piece. But, it is not based on much of a realistic style at all, so it it hard to fault the stems for being so thick, or the grass so lush. I am just telling you what I would observe about this if I saw it at an art show.

Peace
~Cyber

[rluto77]

I REALLY appreciate the comments. I did plan on adding direct lighting to the grass and also adding more detail to the mountainous background. Once I finish that and the lighting on the petals I will post an update. Thank you again.

[rluto77]

Okay, well, I've spent some time finishing up this image. Most of the detail is lost in moving from 18x20 to such a small size but I feel that it is an improvement. Their are some compositional things that I would change if I were to start over from scratcb but I'm moving onto the project that I've been really excited to get underway

I will be posting my progress sometime next week. Let me know what you all think of my final piece, have a nice night.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii38/rluto77/FlowerTOBEPRINTERFORREALINTERNET.jpg

[CybrGfx]

The lighting and colors look much more consistent, and the light source not quite so dominant.

You will always find things to change on any work, it is good for you to recognize that this piece has reached its conclusion. Overall, it has come out quite well, although I do not know that it necessarily conveys the lonliness you were striving for. Nevertheless, it is a well executed, and visually pleasing work. You should be proud. Good job!

Glad you are excited about your next work. Hope to see it soon.

~Cyber

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