Friday, August 28, 2009

"Pretty and Tall" --- Sold


I changed my background color today. Generally speaking, I prefer dark background so I can have my center of focus have a light show. But I had too many of that. So I sometime do dark center on a lighter background. I have not got a kick of this approach. I feel the painting looks more conventional this way. What do you think? Please talk me into it or out of it. We will see who wins.

6 comments:

kt said...

I love the quality of your brushwork. Great brushwork gets me everytime!

Jonathan said...

Great painting overall! I do think you should tone down in chroma and in value your background. Right now it seems as if the background competes with the foreground in intensity. The middle ground with the objects looks great! I just think that the background takes away a little of the focus of the middle gound. I like the direction your going with the idea, it is different than your other paintings. Keep up the great work!

Marina Laliberte said...

Hmmm, I don't like the dark shape in the background on the left side. It looks like a shadow of the object but isn't, so it is neither here nor there. Maybe try making a good strong shadow instead. I like the experiment though, the testing of new grounds. Your paintings are always so beautiful, but it is good to keep growing. So I would say, continue experimenting.

OldMonkey老猴 said...

I thought your color in the negative space is good. The modernist paintings do not have "background". Everything competes in a tight composition. And the painting is "flat". Unlike some of the comments, I like the shadow play in the picture. That further flattens the space.

janncam said...

This is my first time to comment. I love your site, your art and I especially enjoyed your posts from China. To answer your question today, I generally prefer the darker backgrounds, though I can understand wanting to mix things up a bit. In this painting though, it's not so much the lighter value of the background that I think is jarring, it's the color choice. The orange I find is just too strong. I agree with another post that it overpowers your vase and beautiful apple. Perhaps more neutral color but still lighter?
All in all I look forward to each new painting in my inbox. They are all beautiful.

tiffannysketchbook said...

i like this painting as it is. i disagree that the background should be chroma-reduced. its current color makes the pot that is neutral-ish pop. I don't know if it would pop as much if the chroma of the background is reduced. I like that it is orange too, i thought it was a calculated choice, being that the pot that is against it is a neutral version of the complement.
I am glad you are being daring. If you aren't then your paintings will all turn cliche and people will expect the same thing over and over again. this painting is exciting to me. please continue to keep us guessing :)

Ps. my parents are chinese. NI HAW?