I liked the composition right away. This was going to be a fun painting.
I started putting in the darks then got carried away. I was enjoying the painting too much and forgot one important step....
Decide on the background first.
click on the picture to enlarge the imageLavender and Petunias Study
8"x10"
oil on masonite
SOLD
I find one the the hardest things to do is to stop painting when things are really cooking and step back to really objectively think about how to finish a painting. I either plow ahead then evaluate when I am finished or I get very tentative and don't finish strong.
On this one I plowed ahead. After evaluating the final piece I think my error here was fussing with the background after I started painting. (an old habit ):O(
Take a look at these paintings by (Henri Fantin-Latour) The backgrounds are so simple yet perfectly compliment the paintings. Oh well, Back to the drawing board!
6 comments:
Boy do I ever have the same problem.
Except I wait to see it online before I make take a constructive look at it :(
I love that Henri Fantin-Latour site you linked to!
He's one of my favorites and I've looked very closely at the few originals I've chanced to see.
Like you, he begins with a warm ground and he lets the ground show throughout the painting, so the whole has an integral feeling.
I'm struggling more with backgrounds lately..nothing new.
What I forgot to add is the mysterious way his still lifes emerge out of the background..
It's never a separate element...
i like the composition too...
When something starts clicking its hard to stop and follow a set order, even when you know better - happens to all of us I think. Thanks for the link to those incredible painting by Fantin-Latour.
Thanks for the step by step on this, Peter. I love seeing how others paint.
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