Italy, Sunsets and Silhouettes

All of these pieces are related by theme. Mine happen to be related in three ways. They are all based on pictures that were taken in Italy of silhouettes during a sunset. I think skies are absolutely beautiful which is why I picked these pictures.

Overall, I am very happy with how my painting turned out. There are some portions of the sky, like the middle section, that I am proud of and other sections, like the silhouette that I wish I could have perfected.  I love how I blended the sky even though the colors do not exactly match the colors in the photo that I took. I wish I made the purple clouds behind the lamp post a little lighter so that the lamp post could stand out more. I am really proud of the highlights on the clouds.

Sketching is not really my thing but I am pleased with this finished product. The silhouette was difficult for me since I am not very good with drawing faces. I was thrilled when my mom was able to identify the man as my dad even though she couldn't identify herself.  The clouds are my proudest accomplishment in this picture. I always rely on colors to paint the sky and it's difficult for me to get the texture of the clouds. However, on this sketch I loved my completion of the cloud in the upper left hand corner.

This is my second sketch and it is my least favorite piece. I wish I could have painted it because of its beautiful colors. With the lack of color, I found it difficult to sketch the clouds. I could nail the darker clouds and silhouettes but it was harder for me to get the colored highlights on the clouds. I am proud of my silhouettes in this picture, especially the lamp because I feel like I got all of the angles right. 

Apples

I liked working on this painting of apples. This was the first time I have ever painted apples. It was hard to nail down the exact shape but I am happy with the yellow and red apple. The green one gave me a tough time and I repainted it numerous times. My favorite part about this painting is the shading. I think that this is the best I have ever done with shading and shadows.

Southern MD

My first painting this year gave me a bit of grief. I loved the photograph that I took and I was excited to take on the challenge of painting the beautiful sky and water. Although I struggled through the sky and the water, I am happy the way it turned out. I am less happy with the sand that I painted. I found it difficult to get all of the crevices in the sand and get the shading to be correct. Also I wish I could have made the dock a little wider. I have to admit though, I am proud of the water I painted underneath of the dock. I'm excited to taken on my next challenge. I am painting a picture of a sunset in Florence.  

Trees

        

I found my painting of trees to be much more enjoyable as well as simpler. I tried to challenge myself by not only painting a tree but paying attention to the smaller details that one may over look. The smaller branches of the trees is what I found most difficult to paint. I had never painted a tree before and I found that it took less time and less stress than my other paintings. Even the thin brush strokes troubled me just slightly. For this painting I found myself to be more concerned on if I should continue to paint or hold back for fear that the branches may crowd the painting. I am proud that I took the time to paint a tree as I had never done it before. I must say that I loved painting this tree and that I now look forward to painting other trees. 

Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper Inspired Painting

For my painting inspired by Edward Hopper, I chose to paint shadows on water similar to the painting of a sailboat by Edward Hopper. I chose a picture of a tube with an mountainous island in the background. The shadows and lights on the water and tube create a marvelous picture with vibrant colors. I wanted to stick with the water/glass like feel to my paints. This painting was very difficult for me as well. I enjoyed painting the landscape in the background but when it came to the water, I struggled. I finally decided to step further out of my comfort zone by painting the water in sections after having blending it multiple times. I find it to be more realistic though it does not fully mimic my picture as I wanted it to.

   

Green on Green

                 

Green on Green

Our class assignment was to place green objects on green paper and illustrate what we saw. This year I have noticed that I have focused on clear and reflective objects. I chose to take a picture of small bottles filled with colored liquids. I loved the way the light shone through the bottles and placed brightly colored patterns on the green and blue papers. Painting the bottles was the toughest part for me. I have never really tried to paint bottles or water up to this point so I found it very difficult. Being a perfectionist I could not stop until I found it to be perfect. I painted over and over again but failed to mimic the photo that I had in front of me. I realized that I could not get it exactly how I wanted it but I was proud of myself for taking the challenge to paint bottles and water. 

 

Hopper

I really like this painting by Edward Hopper because of the multiple shades of blue that are used. I like how the beach cuts the painting in half horizontally and the sail boat divides it vertically. I particularly like the attention that he paid to the shadows on the sails, the beach dunes, and the light house in the background. I imagine that Hopper would still paint things similar to this, focusing on the shadows of even the objects in the background.