Thursday, December 14, 2006

Landscape Painting- Winter's Last Light..


















8"x 10" oil


...and here, I used what I learned
painting on location (post previous),
to apply to a lifeless otherwise quite
ordinary photo as an exercise...that is,
facing the challenge to create a mood
strictly using a limited palette and
split-complementary strategy...

this shows my block in with the reference
photo I took here in NE Wisconsin...on a
typical gloomy winter's gray day-
























Here my split-complementary palette...using
orange as my dominant, and blue-green &
reddish-violet as my splits..









and now here...a couple closeups-









































here is a short video lesson explaining the
split-complementary palette...enjoy!

17 comments:

Takeyce said...

Wow,Larry. I love the way you to a photo of a gloomy day and turned it into a beautiful painting with such warm light and color. Very nice work.

Rhonda Hurwitz said...

beautiful...what a skill to be able to add color to a lifeless photo the way you did

Larry Seiler said...

thanks takeyce and rhonda...much appreciated. Taking on a challenge is always fun...

James said...

Thanks for the look at your process. How strict are you with this limited palette; do you mix that green from the orange and blue green?

I like how you get more "coolness" from the snow over the red underpainting.

Larry Seiler said...

I've been doing a good deal of reading of Edgar Payne and Gruppe, James...and the whole point of learning and developing expertise in Payne's mind was to an eventual leading to going with your gut hunch or intuition.

One can of course begin with principle or foundational concept and then deviate for a creative reason...so as for strictness one would not have to be...but "strictly" speaking sticking with the concept is a no-brainer that the end result will have a cohesive unifying color harmony.

I tend to give myself an assignment. Figures eh...I'm an art teacher... hahaaa...

but yes, indeed I used the orange shown with the blue-green shown to paint my greens. I used the reddish-violet as if it were my red to tone the greens down.

When I mix my split-comp palette up, I then revert to using each color as though it were my twist or bent on the primaries. Thus, in the case above...the reddish-violet was my red, the orange my yellow, and the blue-green my blue. Sounds a bit odd...but it actually works itself out.

The split works without an undertone, but the reddish undertone creates yes, warmth but also acts as a color to help cools read off of as well as greens.

Gruppe once said something to the effect that green was needed in a painting in order for us to understand how red the reds were. (green being opposite of red on the traditional RYB colorwheel model).

I have been amazed how color and the imitation of light seems to sparkle and pull off especially where greens exist, using a reddish underpainting or toned surface.

thanks James...appreciate your comments and questions.
peace

James said...

Wow, thanks for the in-depth answer. That explains it well. I read Gruppe on Color based on your comments this fall.

This piece reminds me of some others you did of icy fields and creeks that I also liked.

Larry Seiler said...

Good book!!

If you can get it, a must book for painters should be Edgar Payne's "Composition of Outdoor Painting"...

in its seventh edition I believe... $45...
before this last edition came out, would have cost me $165 to get my hands on a copy!

take care... 8^)

Larry Seiler said...

thanks much, Robin!!! 8^D

Stefan Nuetzel said...

It is a fine painting and an interesting approach. Thanks for sharing!

Larry Seiler said...

thanks Stefan...

jesukiran said...

Lovely strokes.......great job Mr.Larry

Pilan said...

Larry this is a beautiful painting. I like the way you posted the information behind this painting.

I have both books and yet to hunker down and really use study them.

Larry Seiler said...

thanks Jesu and P...appreciated...

Mette said...

I really like this, - and the picture you took is beautiful!

Larry Seiler said...

appreciated!!! 8^)

洹畔 said...

I like your painting,I have never known the "split-complementary strategy" but split-complementary can make a painting beautiful,I like it, i am from china.

...Larry said...

how nice to hear from you, from China..thank you. If you follow my YouTube link on the right side of my blog...you can see this idea of the split-complementary better explained and demonstrated...

peace