Friday, January 22, 2010

"Solid Imagination" --- Sold

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Painting color from a non-colored object has been a big challenge to me. I have tried and tried many times painting a white cup, but I don't think I have got it. This one is another try. I stared at this stupid cup for about two hours, and I really did not see much colors from it. But I don't want to do another value painting any more. So you see quite a few colorful grays on the cup. Those are colors in my mind. I will keep trying until I figure out how the color of grays are formed on a neutral color object. If you know the trick or you know some one is good at it, please help me out.

15 comments:

Jean-Claude said...

HI, I have the same problem with white objets, mines are too yellow or too grey! I notice that the dutch master use zinc white with raw sienna and for the umber they add little ultramarine blue and of course titanium white for the hight light.Even with that informations I never find the real color. If I may say something on your painting I thing the cup is not enought deeper in the center. if I was you (of course i'm not )I put more darker grey (prussian blue,with raw umber and burnt sienna) on it.
may be that helps you I hope
jean-claude

Victor Errington said...

Hi Qiang.
Please stop worrying about technical painting. You are a fantastic Artist producing beautiful work. Just enjoy painting and not worry too much about all this technical stuff. That cup is wonderful to look at and that matters most. All the best Qiang.
Vic.
P.S. If you don`t stop worrying you will end up like poor old Vincent.

gaurishankar said...

it looks great.but still you are not satisfied with that tone.it is your greatness. please.. tell how to develop color sense.

Ro-z said...

Hi Quang,

What a nice surprise I got when I opened your daily painting today. First of all you did pretty damn good seeing those "colors" in your head and being able to put them into the cup.
My oldest son sent me a set of china when he was stationed in England many years ago. They are from The Johnson Brothers Company. This is one of the cups........ looks familiar huh!
I was feeling bummed out today because I flet like I had nothing to paint. But then I see something simple, a cup, that you've painted and I get inspired all over again. So thanks for making my day.

I love getting your emails, especially your writings....
Thanks
Ro-z
Ps.....Victor, if I may comment on your worrying, I think sometimes to worry can make you strive towards doing better. And I doubt if Quang eats his paint.

Jo Castillo said...

This is a beautiful cup. Looks like you saw the surrounding colors that gave the white cup its color. Lovely. Looks like you are figuring it out. Computer colors are never the same as you see, but personal taste to me would be to put a little more of the complement, purple, in the shadows. Personal taste, you paint much better than I do. LOL All your work is fantastic.

Mary Sheehan Winn said...

I think it's perfect.

I just bought some more white objects at the Goodwill store and a sweet white "cow" creamer at a second hand shop.
Carol Marine paints white like no one else.

Anita Tresslar said...

Your cup is beautiful. I would tell you that you worry too much but I do the same thing. Artist friends have told me to stop trying to change my ways and just paint. Change for the better will just happen while you work.

PineStitch said...

i think you've done beautifully , capturing all the wonderful rich greys which make a white object sing - to me, the greys are the things that really give an object/picture feel & depth & personality . . .

in this pic (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DquxsgE6bd4/S1KrdCYb1sI/AAAAAAAAAFg/rvmXdTn4kNU/s1600-h/%23592+Floral+with+Sugar+Bowl+%26+Glove+copy.jpg) local artist (well, local to me!) alicia tredway has depicted the subtle yet colorful greys of a sugar bowl in bright light . . . and in a much darker setting, edward b. gordon depicts a white cup (http://www.dailypaintings.gordon.de/1000-1099/1048_Kaffee-Kultur.jpg) in virtually every greyed color but white! that said - your cups the best!!

Stephen Washburn said...

It's a great question and likely there's an answer, But it might be that any random hue change across a plane will work, as long as it relates well.

Kim Carlton said...

Qiang! Don't say you won't do value paintings anymore!!! You're too good! That would make your fans very sad... but no pressure.
:-)

Sadia said...

Nicely done! maybe if instead of the yellow you had grays and white it would give the required hollow effect.

Mary Byrom said...

Kevin MacPhearsen in his first book suggests a painting exercise with one color under the object and another color behind the object. (A box set up works best.) Try 3 or 4 different arrangements of intense hues. You will pick up the different reflected colors in the shadows and highlights of your white object. It will be very notiecable.

Kim Rempel said...

Well...I'm kind of in love with this teacup ; )

Claire Beadon Carnell said...

Such a beautiful variety of subtle colors in this teacup, and your edges are painted magnificently!

Unknown said...

I think that the cup turned out beautifully. I agree that painting a white teacup is difficult.