The ranch house painting was stressful. it was a manageable project, but definitely pushing the limits of my abilities.
The Difficulties
Some photos, even though they are clear and have good detail and light, just don’t have the right information. This one had giant up-close tree branches that were making shadows, but looked disproportionate. The deck off to the right was confusing and hidden by trees that didn’t look good enough to paint because they were too big. The customer requested grazing deer. The canvas proportions didn’t match the photo, but cropping would eliminate the important front steps.
On top of that, there was the looming deadline. Trail Guy asked me why I didn’t charge a rush fee, and then I remembered: it wasn’t a rush until 2 weeks of my working time were stolen by a virus.
What’s a Central California painter to do?
The Solutions
Technology to the rescue: I used Photoshop Junior to size and place the deer on top of the painting (on my laptop, not on the actual painting). The result is a little too disturbing to show you, because the deer photos are in sharp contrast to the mushy looking painting and I don’t want you to join Team Doubt (of which I serve as captain).
Those steps, ugh. When in doubt, I resort to drawing with my paintbrush, a big no-no in The Art World, but I am painting for real people, those who “may not know art but know what they like”. (My kind of peeps)
Those steps, better now.
The deer challenge begun, according to my results with Photoshop Junior.
Hey, Bucky!
Those distant deer.
While I was painting distant deer, there were close deer on the other side of the window.
Okay, this will work.
The deer need brighter stronger colors. And there needs to be some grass blades softening the harshness of those all-important front steps.
I think I am going to be able to sign this one without too much future embarrassment. (There is usually embarrassment about earlier work if one is growing in one’s skill.)
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2 Comments
Nice of that deer to pose for you outside of your window when you were painting the deer. ?
Nikki, the deer are almost as thick as the turkeys around here. And yes, I did enjoy the timing. Thank you for appreciating that little coincidence.
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