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gene
Posts:1236
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| 11/18/2007 2:35 PM |
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| This is a painting done from life. It measures 8" x 12". It is done with NuPastel and Great American Artworks soft pastels.Yes, the little round one in the middle is a pear, I think called an Asian Pear. The bigger one on the left is called an Anjou, I think. And the one lying on its side is a Bartlett. I will be entering it in a show in a few weeks, and need a critique.. Thanks. Gene |
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pastelmimigt
Posts:359
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| 11/18/2007 7:24 PM |
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Hi Gene,
This is very good. I especially like the highlights and colors on the far left pear. I love the way you've made the table and wall interesting with different values. You've incorporated some of the pear colors in the background and that looks good - maybe even add a little more for interest and to bring everything together even more. I wonder if you could get some more purple into the pears to cross-reference the table and wall colors. You've done it nicely in the shadow on the middle pear. Maybe add some more purple to the far right pear to get some depth and shadows into it. The far right pear is very bright/light. I'm not sure that goes with the other two pears. Maybe tone it down a bit and adding the purple might just do that. Something about the cast shadows stops my eyes. They seem flat - maybe too much of one color. Back to one of the first things I pointed out - the nice value variety in the table you've created - the shadows should show that also. Very nice. Good luck in your show.
Michele |
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Bruce Johnson
Posts:124
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| 11/18/2007 7:31 PM |
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Excellent job Gene.. I agree with Michele re the cast shadows.. they look a little flat, maybe some reflected light will bring them to life.. I love the large pear.. |
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Jim
Posts:2265
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| 11/19/2007 9:52 PM |
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Hi Gene,
Nice to see you back here. This is fantastic work! My only thought would be the pear on the
right. You have such great detail in the other two that it makes that one seem a little washed out.
That one might be a good one to pick up some of the purple and maybe some green too. Ya think?
Jim
www.paintingsbyjim.com |
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All the best,
Jim
www.paintingsbyjim.com |
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gene
Posts:1236
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| 11/20/2007 6:54 AM |
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| Hi Bruce, Michele, and Jim. Thanks for the critiques. Yes, I've been looking at this painting for weeks now as it sits in my dining room. I look at it during every meal, critiqueing it myself. Yes, the yellow pear needs work. Actually the photo makes it look alot brighter than it is, Michele, but I do think I can tone it down a bit. And, Jim,there is a lot more green and blue in it than shows up. Why is that? I don't know enough about photography or computers to know. Michele, that "purple" you see on your monitor is not purple at all. I never touched a purple when doing this. In reality the color is a very deep blue. (Another fluke in the transmitting over the airwaves, I think). I mailed the photo to myself and on my monitor it always looks blue, not purple. But, blue or purple, I will take your suggestion, Michelle. Yes, I was concerned about the shadows being too flat. I will try to modify that for sure. I also think I need to add more shadow in the bottom area of the Bartlett pear itself. It seems to look a bit "pasted on" to me, especially on my screen, but also in real life. I'm not sure if I'll add more green or blue to the pear, but might just do that. In the real painting those colors show up more than on the photo, thus adding more dimension to the pear. That pear was a challenge. I'm a very slow painter, and the pear was green when I started it. By the time I finished the Bartlett pear was a fully-ripened yellow! And oh, so delicious!...........Thanks again for your help.......Gene |
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jason
Posts:107
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| 12/04/2007 10:09 PM |
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| Hi Gene. Very nice. Personally, I feel the pears are OK. Rather the mostly all blue background might be a bit too strong. You have some orange- maybe some green too. |
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Jason Alster MSc
http://jasonalster.googlepages.com/creativityandrelaxedconcentration |
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mariart
Posts:55
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| 12/05/2007 12:09 AM |
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| I really like the colour in the right pear, it adds interest to the composition. I dont thinks id touch the shadows untill lightning up the surface of the table around the pears, I think that is where the weak point is. There is a lovely light on the subjects but its too dull on the table surface. Also watch when your rendering round objects that you follow the contours of the shape so the surface doesnt flaten out. |
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gene
Posts:1236
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| 12/05/2007 7:13 AM |
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| Thanks, Jason and Mariart for the comments. I've allready worked on it some more since posting it here, then framed it and took it to the gallery for the show. I'll find out today if it was accepted. There were lots of entries, since this is a competition that will be awarded prizes and everybody and their brother came out to try for the money. We have a lot of nationally known artists in the group. I just hope to get in! After working on the painting again, the yellow pear and the shadows in particular, I forgot to photograph it again. Maybe when I get it back, I can take the dust cover off the back and do just that. Thanks again for all of your help. Gene |
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sboyko
Posts:55
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| 12/06/2007 5:51 PM |
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Your colors in this are just right on, and I very much like the warm pears contrasted against the cool background. I like the placement of the pears and their mass is what it needs to be.
I wonder when I look at the left hand pear, which I think is excellently done in the light parts of it, where the shadow mass begins. I see a cast shadow on the adjacent pear, and I see a cast shadow from this left hand pear onto the table. But the pear itself has no differentiation in value from left to right. If it is casting that strong a shadow, onto the adjacent pear and onto the table, would it not have a shadowed side? It looks just as bright, if not brighter, on the right side as it does on the left, and I take it that the light is coming from the left. Same thing with the middle pear and the right pear. By not showing some shadow sides in the main masses, they look sort of cut-out onto the picture plane.
I don't think your warn/cool contrast or the actual rendering of the pears could be done any better, and the colors of the pears are just what they need to be.
The table to me seems not differentiated quite enough from the background. If the light is splashing down on the table, there should be a greater difference in value to make difference in planes stand out.
You're almost there. This is good. |
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gene
Posts:1236
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| 12/06/2007 9:39 PM |
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Hi Sboyko, Your name seems so familiar. Do I know you? Or have I read your name somewhere? Anyway, thanks for the very thorough critic. I just had this painting accepted into a juried competition, so I can only view the photo posted on this site. I see what you mean about the change in values from the left side to the right side of the pears. I'll have to look at the painting when I get it back to really study this. I don't feel that my photo is really depicting the painting as it should. It's interesting what you said about the light splashing down on the table. When I took it in to my art group I had a question about that and most of the artists critiqueing liked the way I had blended the table into the background, but I can see what you mean about the light shining on the table would make that a lighter value. I think I agree with you. Since I posted this photo, I did a bit more work on the pears to get rid of that pasted on look, particularly on the yellow pear on the right. I matted and framed the painting, and then forgot to take a new photo. But, unless it sells, I can certainly remove the dust cover and unframe it and work on it some more. I'll have to study it and decide what I want to do.
I really appreciate all of the comments, both suggestions for changing it and compliments. I love this forum for precisely that reason.................Thanks so much. Gene |
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sboyko
Posts:55
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| 12/07/2007 3:51 PM |
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| Gene, I don't think you know me personally, although I drop in here from time to time to put my "two cents worth of mustard" on various subjects. I haven't posted any of my work, since my digital camera died and I haven't replaced it, but I hope to remedy that this Christmas with a new camera. Let's hope this painting of yours sells - it should, it's a nice piece. Susie |
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gene
Posts:1236
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| 12/17/2007 7:51 AM |
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| Thanks for all of your comments on this one. It got into the juried show that I entered along with another one that I will post as soon as I have time. I'm not too sure I want to sell it, because I want to enter it into another bigger show here in town that I REALLY want to get into.I'm just pleased to be getting into the same show that Larry Blovits, Jim Markle, Carl Forslund, get into. If you want to see some great pastel painters google Great Lakes Pastel Society and take a look at some of their art. I'm just thrilled to be in the same art groups as them. Gene |
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wordsmith
Posts:21
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| 12/30/2007 12:03 PM |
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Gene et al.,
First, congrats on getting into the juried show! How did this piece do?
This isn't a comment on your work, which is beautiful and which everyone else has critiqued admirably. But I do know a tish about photography and computers and may be able to explain why the transmission from photo to online is often so dismal.
You probably already know this, but the light in which you photograph something has a huge effect on the piece's overall appearance&mdashbright sun washes things out, shadow makes things bluer, etc. If a person is doing any photo manipulation at all—brightening the overall shot, brightening colors, changing color balance, etc.—it will most likely be so that the image looks "right" on his/her monitor. However, unless the monitor is calibrated, there's no guarantee that the adjusted colors will be true when sent elsewhere. If the monitor and printer aren't calibrated with each other, prints may be wildly off color-wise. And (here's the best part) unless that monitor is calibrated to all the other monitors in the world, the image will look different color- contrast-, and everything-else-wise to every person who views it. The best you can hope for with an online shot is a reasonable representation.
Now, add in the low resolutions that monitors (and loading time and bandwidth use) require. When you downsize an image, the computer discards color information, and you lose more detail, color accuracy, and so on. The miracle is that they ever even remotely look the way they started out. 
That's probably way more than anyone ever wanted to know.
Anna |
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Anna (wordsmith) |
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gene
Posts:1236
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| 12/30/2007 4:10 PM |
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Well, that's an earful and one that I need, to be sure. I should really try to study photographing my art more, if only I could find the time!!! I do not manipulate my photos at all, simply because of what you said as far as different monitors are concerned. So, what you see in my paintings is what came up on the computer without any attempt at brightening, etc. etc. Sometimes they look remarkably like the real painting, and sometimes they are very different. At one time, I posted a bowl of citrus on a white tablecloth, and the tablecloth looked PINK! That is NOT the way it looks on the painting, at all. Thanks so much for your help and information.
You asked "How did this piece do?" Well, my aim was to get into the juried show and it got in! I've been very lucky in getting my pieces in. The next goal (in about five years time, I'll bet) will be to have a piece awarded a prize! I am not really all that eager to sell, but I usually sell about 4 or 5 paintings at an Art Fair that our group sponsors every summer, and I get a few commissions now and then (although commissions are not my cup of tea!). Now, I have to wait until Jan. 10th, to go and get this piece and a different one that also got in and take them directly over to another big competition in town and then hold my breath to hope to get them (or at least one of them) in that show. Wish me luck. I was lucky enough to get one in l;lthat show last year and now I'm kind of spoiled, I guess. Thanks again for your information. I really appreciate it. Gene |
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wordsmith
Posts:21
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| 01/01/2008 12:50 PM |
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My pleasure. Sometimes, when I feel really ignorant about something (like I do pastels!), I forget that I actually do know *some* things!
Getting into the juried show is great and I admire your ability to set realistic goals. Competition in the art world is so enormous these days that I'm not sure I'd have the nerve to try! I have won a couple of prizes, but they were in small, non-juried shows, so don't really count. There are so many things to remember when you're building a drawing and they're not automatic enough for me that I don't have to go through them all like a checklist: Values? Composition? Repetition? Shapes? Contrast? Motion? Goodness me!
I sympathize with the pink tablecloth, too. Years back, before calibration tools existed, I took a scan of a photo of my oldest son and spent quite some time balancing colors and making changes to improve it. Then when I printed it, he came out PURPLE! LOL—that was my introduction to the world of mileage variation with regard to scanners, printers and monitors!
I'm sure you'll win that prize before your five-year goal!
Anna |
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Anna (wordsmith) |
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iglazier
Posts:82
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| 01/02/2008 2:45 PM |
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| Hello---enjoyed your posts and all the comments it generated. really fun. Want you to tell us how it does in the juryed show,and also where was the show? What town and state? /who put it on? Its so fun to do this, I enter a small local show in our area each fall, The Carson Valley Artists show In in Minden, Nevada and all the people are so nice and its fun. I hope for an Honerable mention and never have gotten it-----but in o4 won the Best of show with a w/c----Talk about surprized! Brother, who would of thunk It? so good luck and let us know! |
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Ida M. Glazier |
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gene
Posts:1236
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| 01/03/2008 8:29 AM |
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iglazier.............Thanks for the comments. As to your questions. I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan and belong to a group called the Grand Valley Artists. This is a group of about 200 local artists, many of whom are professional artists, or else retired art directors, illustrators, graphic designers, etc. etc., who have retired and are now doing fine art. Many of them are members of the Great Lakes Pastel Society, which I recently joined. Google in that name, and go to their website to see examples of the great work most of them do.
Quite a few of this group are also designated members of the Pastel Society of America. We have a LOT of great artists in this town. Anyway, every so often, our group holds a competition/show in our studio/gallery. This gallery is open to the public only by appointment, so I don't expect to sell this piece or the others that have been juried into that show. My aim, at this point, is to be juried into the show. I'm always thrilled when one of my pieces gets in. The next big competition in Grand Rapids will be big show called Celebration of the Arts. There are usually about 500 entrants and about 200 pieces are accepted. I've been lucky enough to be juried into this show for the past two years. If you want to see the one that was accepted in that show last year, , I think you can find it by clicking my name at the front of this posting, and then when you see "posts by this user", or something like that, scroll down to "Woodland Impressions". I think that painting of my backyard is still there.........I'm not sure, though. I've posted quite a few paintings during the time I have been on this site.
Yes, I find that artists are some of the nicest people I've ever known. I didn't start painting until about 7 years ago, when I retired from teaching. I am a grandmother (in spite of the spelling of my name, I am a woman) and really enjoy this painting thing. Wish me luck in the future. I'm trying to get better and need a lot of help......................Gene |
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iglazier
Posts:82
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| 01/03/2008 12:40 PM |
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 so wonerful to get a reply from you, Gene! And to heat about your area! I wish we had more here, there are some professionals but few of them want to deal with average artistis! I am not a grandmother, but have a son ,30, this year! I have loved art for a long time---Pastels are new for me, and fun. Artist inOils, rAY fREEMAN, has been helping me a little but I am not able to see him to oftem. I paint in w/c so use the same ideas about compostion etc. but am now exploring pastels and the various papers. I love to draw, and do often--also plein-air w/c--I love it all! Stilllifes I do in cold winters, and will try this with pastel--I just hate to use it indoors and go out to the garage--but its so cold now! I am at a loss. Thanks again for the info! Ida |
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Ida M. Glazier |
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gene
Posts:1236
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| 01/26/2008 9:19 AM |
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| For anyone who may be interested, this painting was just accepted into a great show here in Grand Rapids, Mi. called "Celebration of the Arts" and sponsored by the First United Methodist Church. There were 382 entries and 159 pieces were accepted. I was thrilled to be among them. I've been very lucky to get in this show for the past three years, but am ALWAYS amazed when I get the acceptance card back. My only disappointment came when I saw the painting hanging, along with many other smaller paintings, in a very dimly lit hallway leading into the bigger hall. Everyone entering the show will see it, but the lighting is so bad, it really looks quite odd to my eyes. If you recall, some of us were wondering if the yellow pear was too bright.........believe me, under those lights it definitely was not. The colors were very distorted........the yellow pear actually appeared to be quite green. I was disappointed with that, but thrilled to death to be accepted into this show, which is one of the "Big Four" competitions in this area. Gene |
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