Wednesday, October 9, 2013


CONSTRUCTIVE FIGURATIVE STUDY
oil on board
Amy

13 comments:

  1. I like your style and the colors you used, but I think there should be some more contrast in the actual figure. When I look at the figure, my eyes always wander back to the pillow because it is so bright against the dark background. The pallette you used makes for a calm painting and gives it a night time effect. The left arm looks a bit out of proportion, but I remember that arm was difficult :-/ . Doing critiques so long after the paintings were done is hard because I'm forgetting what the model looked like! Overall, nice painting.

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  2. after watching the changes that this piece went through I think benficial adjustments were made and more time could have further improved the proportion and position. the background objects and done well with the flat tones but more balance and transition in the body could really strengthen this piece in my opinion.

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  3. Amy, I really like the way you paint. There's something about the way you handle oils that make the medium look like pastels, or paper. One of the things that I want to stress the most with practice would be proportions, which is the hardest thing about painting. Figuring out where the left arm tapers at the elbow, and again at the wrist if difficult, but I feel that with practice it gets easier. I love the color palate you chose, that makes it seem very relaxed. I think you are making huge progress from your first painting. :)

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  4. What I find interesting with your paintings is how drastic the colours turn out. My biggest concern in this piece is the block of shadow in his chest and his arm proportion. Remember to forget everything you know about what you're looking at and only draw what's there! Everything is relative to each other, so what I do is use parts of the model standing in front of me to help draw the figure on your paper. I can't explain this very well in words, so I drew a quick picture using a pose from this website that I use to practise gesture drawings to show how I will use parts of the model to keep my proportions in check: LINK

    It's not a perfect method, but practising it does help me from time to time to keep proportions in check. (hopefully this is helpful and doesn't sound condescending. I just think this method would have helped with getting his arm looking a bit more like what was in front of you)

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  5. I feel the sections are blocked off by color but it is very necessary or this piece would have the brilliant style that it does. Everything here works for me the only thing that is a bit shocking is the lime green pillow.

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  6. I think you did a great job of capturing the the mid tones in the lower right arm and left bicep. Looks like you used a peachy color and reds, I think that if you wanted to change the style of the painting, you would need to incorporate some mid tones on the left arm and neck, but then again I like this painting the way it is. The bold blue in the background and the bold neon yellow mesh well with the straight dark areas on the chest, face, right shoulder, and hair. I think that if you add in more mid tones to the figure you'll change the style of this painting, and have to consider changing the background and toning down the neon pillow.

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  7. I like how cool the image feels, like he is in a dim room sleeping or even listening to music.I like the way you block in the color, it gives it a graphic effect. As Lydia mentioned, the painting does feel like pastels for some reason, maybe not enough paint on the brush, but I really like that about this painting. Something I didn't notice during critique was his left arm( the propped up arm), it feels like it doesn't connect to the body, in terms of coloring, style and position. It just seems to pop out by his neck and doesn't quite feel like a finished arm.

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  8. I think you have a really unique style. I think your pieces always emphasize shape and color. I like that your color choices are so bold. I know in class we discussed in class how the yellow pillow detracts from the face of this figure but for some reason I really like that choice. I think it's a surprising choice. I think you should keep going in that direction. Use lots of bold colors and keep experimenting with unusual color pairings. I think you are starting to develop a style so keeping tweaking and making improvements in rendering the figure but don't lose your style because it's awesome!

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  9. The more i look at it, the more i realize that I really like this painting. Like others have said, your big, bold blocks of color and the stark transitions between then, the way you create curves, and the way the hair has its own texture really make the painting interesting to look at. These, as well as your actual palette, are things that you do very well. I really like the big stripe of yellow: in some ways its the opposite of everything else thats going on, but it makes it nearly impossible to look away from the painting, and it has a great visual effect. The only thing that takes away from the painting is the figure's left arm, it just creates a bit of a visual paradox. I think you could paint over it with the couch color, and your figure would still be believable without sacrificing your voice. Great job!

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  10. I think that color is the weakest part of the painting. Having the bright yellow drowns out any light that is in the figure/the rest of the composition which makes it really difficult to read.
    This feels like an odd and challenging shape of board to paint a figure on. Having a square gives the illusion that the figure is squished towards the left, and it makes it feel very unnatural/uncomfortable.
    In contrast, the way you have rendered the figure, particularly the face, is very peaceful and calm.
    Overall I am very intrigued by this piece. I want to know more about why you painted it this way with near outlines, yet so soft and blended.

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  11. overall, this piece was very... hard to look at. the colors seem uncomfortable, and the handle of proportion needs work. I would suggest 1) more control over value (light and dark) as well as 2) more practice with life drawing. Its completely different from drawing from imagination or even a photograph, But it works out all the right habits considering what you see and what you do with what you see.
    good work though, and the effort put forth is certainly evident.

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  12. Balance is al little off and the yellow is definitely the focus of the painting. I think it would work if you either toned down the yellow or incorporate the same intense yellow into the figure. I think that as an artist it is hard to make the transition from working from life and photographs, which I feel like you can do well. Sometime we over think things. I like your figures placement and think i see improvements in all of your work!

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  13. i saw you work very hard on this painting, but i think you could have taken more risks in your figure. the neon yellow pillow was a good choice think because it really pops. i think this painting was one of the most unique in the class

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