Tuesday 15 April 2008

CONTINUING THE OIL PAINTING OF THE MILL


As you can see, Ive been working on the mill oil painting. After adding my own interpretation of the foliage on the bank with bull rushes, irises, evening primroses etc and the right hand tree, I realised the reflections were too complicated especially to the left. So blended them down. I darkened the right hand corner and put another layer on the mill itself. Ive lost some of the shadow tone to the building itself, so will add a darker glaze where appropriate before putting the detail of the windows and roofs. Then I'll have another think session before deciding where to add the lines depicting the slatting on the top half of the building!!

Wish me luck - I think Im getting there. Just noticed it looks as if the mill is toppling over - hope its the poor photography for the post, but if not I'll need to look at the angles of the horizontal lines and the left hand vertical.

4 comments:

"JeanneG" said...

The line that seems off is the one that extends up from the first column from the right. The upper level vertical line.

Joan Sandford-Cook said...

Thanks Jeanne but I think you've been misled by the fact that there is a patch of light (triangular elongated) along that edge which will show up better when Ive added the shadow glaze. I think its the bottom of the windows and walkway below that should be going up from right to left. Im always teaching perspective and got it wrong myself!!!! and the far left edge of the building is not perpendicular. Anyway thats what Im going to look at next time I work on the painting. Oh dear why did I start such a difficult subject. Still not sure how I am going to depict the slats. Many thanks for taking the trouble to observe the painting so intently and offering your advice, which I will look at and consider.

"JeanneG" said...

And now you know why I don't "do" perspective. Life's too short for my mind to worry that much. I am glad you are doing this picture. I am having such fun watching it develop. And you must really love perspective to do a picture with that much of it.

Joan Sandford-Cook said...

I do appreciate perspective but didnt know th is woujld give me such trouble. If I had not been asked to do an oil painting of this mill, I probably would not have tackled it for myself. Well quite honestly I would not have known what it looked like as they provided three 1906/07 photos for me to work from. Although the site of the mill is just down the road from me, it no longer exists as a building. Thanks Jeanne for your interest.