For my final project, I wanted to continue to work on Van Gogh markings. I used a photograph I had taken at Creamer’s Field during the fall as a guideline. As I mentioned in my proposal, the photograph itself has a luminism feel to it and part of the challenge would be converting it to Van Gogh’s impressionist style. I accomplished this through a focus on overall shapes and the way they flow versus trying to capture every detail. I relied heavily on brushstrokes to convey depth, direction and texture. For example, the brushstrokes in the water are a little longer and fluid than the grass.
My intention was to stick to a triadic color scheme of green, orange and purple and I think I was fairly successful, though the yellow and some blue is featured more than I had initially intended. The bulk of the picture (maybe about 75%) was painted using solely pthalo blue, yellow and orange. I was surprised at the versatility you could get from three colors by simply mixing in different ratios and overlapping layers of paint. I was worried it would be mottled and hard to differentiate where one part of the painting ended and the other began. It forced me to make bolder color choices, such as painting pure orange over the tops of the bushes where the sun would hit. I don’t know that I would have tried this otherwise. Previous to taking this class, I would’ve thought it wouldn’t work; the orange would be too loud and just look weird on it. I’m really glad I tried it though because I’m thrilled with the way it turned out. It really lends itself to that “golden hour” feel which may have been lost otherwise.
The markings themselves were tricky to figure out at first, but once I got the hang of blending (but not really blending) the short brushstrokes, it started to really come along. The sky was a several night-long endeavor, as was the lake. The background took a significant amount of time, too, but it was really from several attempts at reinterpreting the photo so it would be more conducive to the markings, without making everything mesh into one giant, unidentifiable thing.
Overall, I’m really happy with the outcome. It has been a long, long time since I painted anything and with that being said, this is my first original painting. I think the colors work well together and the brushstrokes are reminiscent of Van Gogh to me.
I really love how you bring the combination of color very good, the three dimension of the picture is ansome good job
Wow this is an awesome piece. I think you did a wonderful job recreating the photo in a style similar to Van Gogh. I also think you were very ambitious using a triadic scheme on such a calm and warm image. To me, the picture appears to be at sunset. I really like how the colors on the lake and sky change from warm to cool. In my mind, this alluded to the change of day to night and tied very nicely with the reference photo. I think you portrayed depth successfully and created a piece that is recognizably reminiscent of Van Gogh. This is even more impressive considering your color use. You pallet is fun and almost seems whimsical. On the other hand, Van Gogh’s paintings usually have a sense of motion or create unease. I really think you nailed this final project and did great at showing that you learned from the class.
I was so excited to see this one when it was finished, and I’m so happy it’s done. This is beautiful. I think that you could really incorporate this into your own art style. I think that it’s just slightly enough to be Van Gogh-esque, but I really think it’s something totally new. The trees in the background and the rocks in the foreground are really beautifully rendered and the water is so peaceful. I could really see you illustrating children’s books! This is beautiful! Greatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreat and impressive work!
Thanks so much for the feedback, everyone! Devante- the color palette definitely had its moments where it felt difficult to work with and still portray a sense of calmness. The green/orange combo at times felt very dramatic and dark and I spent a LOT of time working with the right ratio to try to get the right feel. There are probably about 4 paintings worth of paint on this sheet of paper hahaha I agree about Van Gogh’s style creating the illusion of motion. I tried to emulate it the most in the sky and the water by looking closely at the original photo and thinking something along the lines of “it looks like the clouds move upwards here”. At times it didn’t make much sense to me but in the end, I was happy with it!
Hunter- Thanks so much for your kind words the whole way through! It means a lot! I am definitely excited to continue to explore this style. I already decided to do a few more and photograph them with a tilt-shift lens so they look 3D- I’m so excited about it! And to think, I’d probably have never bothered had it not been for this class!