[TerryCurley]

I am loving doing the painting with the pallet knife. It is so loose and free. So here is the first one. It is using the picture of the Stuco House that was free on Windows XP. I'm not attempting to copy that picture, just use it as a guide for my own picture.

So I need advice. How can I improve the shading? Your honest opinion of the texture. What would you do different if you were doing this?

I'm going to add the foliage and the little ladder with the herbs after it dries some. I mixed the paint with some Impasto Medium that is suppose to help it dry quickly from the inside out to avoid cracking so it should be dry enough to work on by Thursday.

I know it's totally silly but I'm all excited about doing this.

 

[Bushcraftonfire]

Very Nicely done

 

[TerryCurley]

Thank you David.

 

[Susan Mulno]

It is not silly. You are doing a great job!

 

[TerryCurley]

Thank you Susan. I just changed the window. It looks so much better than I'm getting on the photo.

 

[leighann]

That looks like fun, Terry. Probably a nice change from the portrait

 

[Sorin]

Doing fine, gal. Show your blades & talk about your favorite. Think about adding a few splotches of contrasting but muted colors in too, especially if you add veggies. They will affect your "white" quite a bit & you'll need cool/warm shadow.

 

[TerryCurley]

Leighann you are so right, this is a welcome change after the portrait.

Sorin thank you for checking out the picture, and your compliment. These are the blades (pallet knives) I'm using and the only ones I've tried so far. I'm also posting the picture I'm using as a reference. I'm not trying to make the picture look exactly like it but I'm trying to use it just as a frame of reference.

What is a cool/warm shadow, do I need both cool and warm colors in the shadow; say like blue with part of it being a deep pink? Or are you meaning that for the foilage that is cool I should have a warm shadow and the foliage that is warm I should have a cool shadow?

I appreciate the help.

 

[Sorin]

Next!

Think about not only the effects of age, which mottles everything, especially a white, rough stucco wall, but also ponder the fact that light goes in all directions once reflected from multiple sources... Plants, earth, sky, etc. This light, of all hues, causes shadows to be changed. A deep shadow may have blue & a bit of purple/brown in it. It may have green from plants. yellows & browns from earthy things. The pic I've given has 4 or 5 sections in which I used Photoshop to depict colors & where they're found. Warms are the yellow/red/browns, cools are blues/greens. I often underpaint such & then topcoat with the highlights.
Your 2 blades are pretty stiff & not great for delicacy. You did well with them. Pat on th' back. My favorite blade is about 2" long, 1/4" wide & rounded. I slightly flex it so its not perfectly flat & I can "smudge" paint on without the hard lines created by the tip.

 

[TerryCurley]

Your picture is great Sorin. I'm now going to work on the wall some more before putting some foliage in. Thank you for showing me this. I believe I'm understanding what you are telling me now about the cool/warm shadows. I'm planning to try several different knives (blades) to see which one I like the best.

 

[TerryCurley]

OK Sorin tell me if what I did was kind of what you meant or not. I apologize for the glare -- wet paint is hard to photograph.

Please ignore the mess at the bottom of the picture. That is cast shadowing of the ladder and plants I intend to put in front of them. What I need to know about is the rest of the house, honestly I kind of like it. The photo does not look as good as the picture itself.

 

[Sorin]

Twall2

Agree, I'm not crazy about strong colors on stucco.
Lighten up a bit on your color strengths till you get accustomed. Better to be too delicate than too strong cuz you can always add. Also, since you put down the lights first, realize that you can paint by elimination too, not just by putting paint ON. You can smudge your stuff in & then wipe it off of the high points. A little wiping, dabbing & lifting with a soft cloth & a little solvent. Try the same on your cracks so they're not so wide. The darks should be in the deepest areas, not on the outter surface which would only have lesser tones of age & much lighter.
Yer doin fine, T.
On this pic I lightened the stone & the yellow smudge a bit.

 

[TerryCurley]

I Just read your post right now Sorin but I've been working on it some this morning before I read it. This is where I am at right now. I'll work on your suggestions some in a little while. Have to go grocery shopping.

I'm planning still to add a geranium plant on a stool as in the reference picture. To be honest I'm feeling for a first try using pallet knives and not being very experienced I'm happy with how it's coming out, and appreciate your guidance.

 

[Bushcraftonfire]

While this is a fine piece.. and a great accomplishment for your fist knife piece.. there's something about the colors that are somewhat bothersome.

Let me say when I saw the first installment of this.. it was lovely and could have been a finished piece (IMO) (BTW - I'm not saying it's not lovely now )

I'm not sure I can identify it accurately, but the Burnt Sienna and the green in the window seem to contradict with the rest of the image. The mauve was wonderful.. I would have loved to see the shadows in dark mauve or purple (like in the original). Also.. maybe this is just me.. I think the crack on the right especially is distracting. The window is the main focal point.. but your drawn out of the picture by the crack.

Just my Thoughts

 

[TerryCurley]

David, you and Sorin both mentioned the crack and I completely agree with you, I'm going to tone it down a bunch and make it just a tiny crack or maybe even do away with it. I do like the idea of changing the colors of the reflections in the windows but I'm not sure if it is a good idea to have two focal points in a picture. I'm planning on the Germanium plant to be the main focal point but I really do like the idea of making the refection purplely...so I think I will when I get back to it after some house chores. I'm approaching this picture as a total learning and fun project. If it all doesn't work out that's OK too as long as I learned from it.

 

[Sorin]

3

Yup, she's learning & havin fun. The pink is a bit overdone but pooooo on it. Keep playing & learning.

 

[Erilia]

I don't know much about knife painting even if it's in plan to try at least once, so I can't really give you any advice on it , but I like your work on this, I like the little ladder you added, the blue is a nice addition to it.
Thank you for showing us your steps in your work

 

[FanKi]

Woooho! That's cool Terry! Keep going ^^

 

[TerryCurley]

Yup, she's learning & havin fun. The pink is a bit overdone but pooooo on it. Keep playing & learning. View attachment 15890

I like the blue you added to the top side of the window. I'm going to do that. Thanks.

 

[TerryCurley]

I messed it up big time. I've decided I'm going to start over after I practice making the geranium and herbs. What I was trying to do is scrape off some of the pink and it has made the surface so rough it's ugly and I don't think I can smooth it out and honestly I don't want to, I want to start over so that's what I'm going to do. For the Stuco House version 1.2 I'm not going to have a ladder or a lot of grass or that brake in the wall. I'm going to make it simpler, just the window and a flower pot on a bench.