I have been making some progress on this painting but I am realizing that I don’t really enjoy working off of a photo. I feel confined and limited to what I can see.
I have began to roughly lay in the foreground trees. I need to add a little more detail and then I will work on the figure. What do you think?
The Des Moines disc golf club asked me to do a painting, so that is why I am using this picture as the subject. Any suggestions on what I can do with my painting to make it come to life? Here is the actual picture.
phil Says:
September 27th, 2006 at 8:10 pmVisit phil
i like what you are doing with the background and foreground. i think if you really want it to pop you need a different pose from the thrower. maybe just before or as he is releasing. let antisipation play a role for the action. define the dynamic of the human body and throw in a little fantasy (not too much) to the movement of that. the scenerie is fine but for this piece the augmentation of the physical (human) form is key to draw in the viewers. also smoothe out the shadows of the tree in the foreground. i’m sure that you planned to, but just a reminder
Dave Says:
September 28th, 2006 at 5:41 amVisit Dave
I think the launching strip should continue off the bottom left edge of the painting. I don’t think you need to be so faithful to the photo’s composition. I agree with Phil that maybe the thrower’s pose isn’t right, maybe something more like he’s winding up for a big release … What if he were throwing towards the viewer? Also think that there could be more contrast between his size and the tree. Right now they are equal in the plane. Might be more interesting with some tension between them.
Portrait From Photo Says:
November 24th, 2006 at 11:32 pmVisit Portrait From Photo
The person appears so far. Not so much action if a painting is more of green thingy right? Cut off some green leafy stuff and make the person as your center or focus. Make the movement of the man clear in your output to convey more story or emotions.
By the way, don’t you have any picture of the same place wherein the man is facing your camera or probably in side view? A back iew is not so interesting but it’s a big challenge to most artists how to make such photos appear larger than life through paints.
John
Michele Andolina Says:
February 6th, 2007 at 11:02 pmVisit Michele Andolina
I agree with Dave in respect to the composition of the piece. The right corner of the launching strip would look nice if it went off the painting, it could also make an interesting slanted line between the grass and strip. That is just a suggestion. the composition is going to entirely change once you place the figure in any way so maybe keep the launching strip the way it is.
However I happen to like the posture of the figure in the photo. It’s kinda weird and punky. If you pull off right maybe it would be cool. Plus the red shirt will look nice too.