[Desertau]

I’ve decided to let it dry and then varnish, there is more I could add but don’t think in the end will make any improvement. I am curious from a learning perspective if there are are things I just can’t see because I’m to familiar that I should change? I won’t be offended it will help with the next one and putting any art out there it is what it is and I’m realistic about my ability. I grew up with a really good artist, my dad was amazing he drew and the picture developed like a polaroid and almost as fast. I asked him how I could draw like that, the answer was as simple as it gets… start someplace. He could just plain see it it on paper before the pencil made a mark, it was tracing what he saw. I didn’t really understand then I think now we all have this in varying degrees the ability to see it, I only have a little naturally, but I’m also very mechanical oriented so it’s connected I think. I’m a story teller I guess, I’m getting old I, lol… I’ll try and control myself. He was also a professional musician, he played mainly the violin did a world cruz playing on the ships band, then Tuba in the military, string base on radio and in night clubs with a lot ot the big names from the 40’s and 50’s. I was young when he tired of the life and changed carriers he got his architectural license, doing projects for the county first, IBM, Fairchild and Memorix and the University of Santa Clara too. There’s actually more but I promised to try and control myself, so if you’ve hung in with me this far, these are a few of his pieces I’m lucky to have… he didn’t seem to really like it fortunately his mother-in-law did and saved these. There’s other work out there, but I wouldn’t know where to find it.

this is pen and ink

pen and ink

copper etching

copper etching

watercolor of a building outside the art school window

 

[Suhail]

The orange colour is very dominant in the painting. Orange/gold is one of my favourite colours as it is full of energy, representing sunlight. The darkish orange value in the background (on the left-hand side in front of the trees in the background) adds a good depth to the painting. Darkish colour values in the background add more depth to the painting.

You’ve done well with varying the values of grey colour in the mountain adding dimensions and shades. Deciding on the light source direction would also indicate the direction of shadows on the mountain, trees and the hills. This is depending on if you intend to add depth to the painting, i.e. clear background distinguished from the foreground.
Some artists intentionally paint without adding depth. For example, in Chinese and Japanese traditional paintings depth of field is not usually an element of the painting. They are different styles of painting, but they can be amazingly beautiful.

The main thing about painting or creating any artwork is to enjoy the creative process itself. And as long as you enjoy the process, that’s what really matters.

The ink drawings/paintings and watercolour are absolutely fantastic. Monochromatic drawings/ paintings are beautiful and require special skill. Using one colour to create a painting is not a simple matter. Although monochromatic drawing/painting includes the use of one colour, the artist is capable of varying the value of that colour to create great depth and details.

Great fine details in each painting. I wonder how long it took your Dad to draw each. Very beautiful drawings/paintings.

 

[Desertau]

In my earlier try I was including all the branches and trees I liked the texture in the shadows it did add dimension, but I lost that feel after opening the field of view altering how the light diffuses through the trees. my plan was to slowly add everything back in from the distance working to the front but it was getting a little beyond my technical ability, maybe I can revisit adding more textures back in with the debris and grasses, thinning my paint a little might help too I’m not careful enough trying to be consistent.

i added water to this view, but the creek is actually dry when I took the picture.

Im not exactly sure how long these took him to do, they were a done years before I was born, but having seen him draw I think not very long. He did get me through ceramics in high school making me a gargoyle out of clay for a project I procrastinated on until it was to late. The teacher was shocked when I brought it in, why he accepted it I’ll never know there was no way I’d made it he had to know, but I got an ”A.”

 

[Desertau]

I painted over this last version after adding another layer of background trees and just didn’t like where it went, that and the trees didn’t feel look/right most of them and it was destined to only get busier. Scanning YouTube I tried a channels advice to simplify the composition to better match something I could do this had the benefit of showing the landscape hidden in the trees. As a kid I spent a lot of time fishing and hiking these very mountains, ironic 60 years later I hunt them for gold. The way it’s painted now is how it looked when I was young, before the Forrest’s were allowed to become so over grown in the name of protecting the environment, the Single biggest factor in Californias devastating wild fires being fuel load with little defensible space (30 years fire service, from f/f to Ops Chief, I’ve been retired a long time now).

so, that’s more how it looked with the Forrest managed by the early native Americans, they burned areas to hunt and for safe travel from bears and wolf packs and prevent devastating wildfire, words from a local historian in Downieville, Ca in the heart of the motherload on highway 49… the golden chain highway. The 49res cut a tremendous amount of the Forrest down too for mining gold, we don’t have anywhere the impact we think we do on the environment a genetic feeling of self importance, in my lifetime I’ve seen it completely revert back to wild in a few decades.

Another area of difficulty is getting a representative photo accurately capturing contrast, resolution and color, I loose a large percent with the camera and it flattens the digital image bringing out defects. I am starting to become aware of some of those differences in the way cameras capture photons vs our eye, I’m giving astronomy another go and at the end of last year began assembling an Astro photography setup, but supply chain issues have delayed the process and I haven’t gotten into it that much yet so my general skills are rather basic. Have you found settings that produce in the photos what your eye is happy with?

 

[liliapropst]

Hi! I like your paintings, and it's amazing to be able to create something like this! Are you from Vegas? I'm going there for Christmas, and I'll be glad if someone tells me about a good hotel like the Jungle Vista Hotel where you can stay and the most interesting places you need to post. I was vacationing in Costa Rica this summer, so I'm a connoisseur of fun and noisy parties. I will be glad if someone from Vegas gives me some recommendations. Thanks.