Ugly duckling (goslings) - cheer me on?

A bit of a side quest here, but I see the shifting of colors is causing you a bit of doubt and annoyance.

Some older books by Faber Birren go pretty deep on this is if you're curious as to why those colors appear to shift when next to each other. You're not imagining this.

Color Perception in Art is a good one to start with.

Creative Color is another good one. This one cleared up how some artists "installed" luminescence and light  in their paintings.  

And I think your painting is excellent. Nice work!

Congratulations R! In my opinion you are very brave to paint in this technique.
I did oil painting in the past, but never this way ('alla prima'). I only did the photo-realistic technique with layers and glazing. Maybe that sounds more difficult, but I don't think it is. It gives much more time/opportunities to correct mistakes.

Your painted gosling looks just like the photo, as I see it here from my laptop screen.

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

L Anderson wrote:I would put it on my wall.

sweet!  

I hope I feel that way in 6 months when it's dry.  I need some more art for my wall.  

I'm just worried when it comes time to frame it, I will think it's not worth wasting the money on a frame.

Thekla McDaniels wrote:Congratulations, R.

I thought it looked great when you were talking about “too warm” and reworked around the feet.  That was BRAVE.

You paint so well in my opinion, that I can’t begin to critique.

That you are guided by your inner sense of what looks right and what doesn’t is central!  You’re painting YOUR painting, so follow your instincts.  That’s what all the great painters have done.

Early on in the thread there was a section questioning why one color changes how another appears.  It brought to mind a weaving or dying workshop I attended 40+ years ago.  We viewed two pieces of cloth.  They appeared to be the same color.  We each preferred the same one of the pair (secret ballot so as mot to be influenced by one another).

When we saw the two pieces up close, it was evident that the one we all preferred was a mix of many colors, not all of them were even the same range, or hue.  If hue isn’t the right word, then for example they were not all greens.  There were magenta flecks and teal flecks…

I concluded that even when we are unaware of them, the composite flecks are more “exciting“ to the eye than monochrome.  Perhaps this is related?

Anyway, congratulations on your gosling.  

This method is really scary.  People say "oils are so easy, you can fix everything" and yet, how do they find the courage to fix anything?  It's so close to what I want, and I don't know enough to see what's missing to get it that last 25% there.  

That's a good reminder about weaving.  I've got to think more about the colour theory I learned from yarn.  Thanks.

Dave Bross wrote:A bit of a side quest here, but I see the shifting of colors is causing you a bit of doubt and annoyance.

Some older books by Faber Birren go pretty deep on this is if you're curious as to why those colors appear to shift when next to each other. You're not imagining this.

Color Perception in Art is a good one to start with.

Creative Color is another good one. This one cleared up how some artists "installed" luminescence and light  in their paintings.  

And I think your painting is excellent. Nice work!

Thanks for the suggestion.  I'm going to keep a special eye out for those books.  They look great.  

That gosling is definitely NOT ugly. I think it's a lovely painting of a very sweet baby.

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:Congratulations R! In my opinion you are very brave to paint in this technique.
I did oil painting in the past, but never this way ('alla prima'). I only did the photo-realistic technique with layers and glazing. Maybe that sounds more difficult, but I don't think it is. It gives much more time/opportunities to correct mistakes.

Your painted gosling looks just like the photo, as I see it here from my laptop screen.

The more ways I try, the more I feel the way you describe is the easier way.  

This way has more panic built in.  I have only so long to achieve the desired results,  and it's not easy to repair when I get it wrong.

Mixing colours for gosling number 2



Most of the paints I'm using for this are made by M Graham in Oregon, USA.  It's a stones throw from where I live, which is a nice touch to have paint made so close to home.  It's one of the more affordable professional oil paint in the local stores, and being made with walnut oil, it stays workable for longer than many paints would.

The texture is a little bit smoother than most brands of oil paint, making it easier to paint from the tube (like I am here) and not need any extra medium.

Something else,  I used to weave color gradient landscapes.

Sometimes this was by dying a piece of fabric like a cotton sheet or bedspread to tear into the weft.  

By the time I was weaving there was not a lot of “creativity” left to indulge in, or worry about.  I was just engaging in the repetitive hypnotic mechanical process of shed change, shuttle pass and pick placement.

Sometimes it did not become what I had imagined.  In that case it was very hard to see what was before my eyes for its own appearance.

I found that if I hung the weaving upside down on the wall, I did not have to contend with that contrast between what I tried to make and what I had made, and my disappointment that my dream had not materialized.  After some time, I was able to look and see without the obstacles of the discrepancy and my attachment.

I have discussed this with others who sometimes have difficulties being objective about a creation of theirs.  Apparently I am not the only one.

He’s a lovely gosling, R.  Be patient with yourself.

Thanks.

Here, I venture into the land of doubt yet again.  



If anything, doubt is stronger this time.

Maybe doubt is just part of your process, a way of paying full attention, as you try to learn a new process or technique.  You are also dealing with unknowns and wondering how you will measure up.

There are various theories about humans and the dislike we feel for the unfamiliar.

It’s ok to doubt, and it appears you have a willing support group here.

If the support for makes it possible, easier to move forward, then I am glad to be part of it.

I can’t wait to see how your second gosling will come out.

She’s beginning to hatch!

The support does help a lot.

I think the method of painting has a lot of possibilities, but it requies a lot more focus and trust than styles I've tried before.

With the background in, it looks too light.



But also, the source photo is a little lighter, so I need to decide if I want to match that or the first painting.

Lacking the courage to paint, I learn a lot by being party to your inner conversation.

In time I might want to try it myself!

For some reason, the first thing I do in the morning is to take a photo of my favourite passage from the day before.  Even if it's wrong from far away, i love the chaos and joy from.... how to explain it? I keep each brush separated by colour style, so that here, we have the darks.  Starting dark and slowly moving towards the middle colours, I don't clean my brush between colours, but instead allow previous colours left on the brush to participate in future strokes.



With the lights, it's less successful,  but I find it easier to start bright and work towards the middle.  Light seems easier to dull and dark seems easier to lighten, so by going from the extremes, it seems to meet in the middle.  At least that's the theory.   I tend to put the middle in too soon.

Thekla McDaniels wrote:Lacking the courage to paint, I learn a lot by being party to your inner conversation.

In time I might want to try it myself!

Heart emoji

Thanks.  Glad it's entertaining.

I've known so many people who try a new thing, fail, give up, and never try it again.  Just because they weren't perfect at a skill they never tried before.  This hurts my heart.

I like to imagine that sharing the struggle and knowing there is a significant chance these won't turn out, might help future readers try new things, and be okay with not becoming an immediate expert on the first try.

This is the video that helped me try this technique early.  I was going to wait a bit for more skill, but can one get skill without practice.  Trying something beyond my perceived skill, is a great way to learn.



Starting about 30 seconds in, he talks about the artists curse.

Something feels off on the left side of the goose.



It seems like a good time to fix it, so I wipe it off and will try again.

I admit, I had hoped to be further along, what with all I learned from the last gosling.   But it's coming together.



I tried to paint the eye, but apparently today is a tremors day and I ended up ending the day with the face wiped away because I got blue and black where it's difficult to fix.  

I think a mahl stick is needed.

What is a mahl stick?

This is



I used to have a vcr just like that.

Looks just like a dowel!

And a mahl stick could go on our wonderful list of things to do with sticks!

how is the 2nd goose cooking?

Good question, Ray! I'd like to know, too!

I'm a bit behind with the story as life and stuff.  

Trying different things around the house, I found this cane works best so far.  It's a bit heavy, but it hooks on the easel and when I brace it in my left hand, it's very steady.



And it's a raven.

goose is coming along... slowly.  

He looks so much better with eyes



I don't know if I found as much personality here as the first one, but it will do.

Time for cute little footsies.



This is very much becoming my favourite part to paint because it makes no sense.  Up close, it's a mess, but step back and suddenly feet appear and look real.  Like a magic trick.

This is as far as I got before the paint got too sticky.





I don't know if I like them or not.  I'll put the two paintings to one side to dry.  Then evaluate.   Give myself the gift of time.

I suspect it will be that I don't like my composition choices.  As much as I adore strong Rembrandt lighting and a dark background, perhaps it wasn't the best subject for this style.  

Thanks for coming with me on this journey.