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I'm Waxing Backwards For Christmas....
Topic Started: Apr 21 2006, 10:15 AM (142 Views)
waxingsteve
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Well, that is, I think I'm mahing regress instead of progress, at the moment :wacko: This is an A5 landscape, framed, but I get less happy with it every day :(

Posted Image

Steve :)

PS Apologies to Spike Milligan ;)
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mifmif
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Hmmmm! I can see why you might feel that.....it isn't as good as some of your others but I think it IS good as a learning curve.

Anyway, here is how I think you could turn this round.

First thing that struck me was that you didn't mix your basic colours. The sky and mountains are great, but the middle distance is a bit too vivid against that. I would have gone maybe for olive green, mixed with a little (and I mean little) blue/mauve and perhaps dabbed on rather than smoothed, bringing it forward to deeper olive greens at the front, with more brighter green for the grasses to give some depth.

Then the tree! It's a bit brown, isn't it! Have you thought of using a mixture of brown/indigo/ olive green instead of just one colour? It gives a more natural look to the bark. Start with a few strokes of the iron tip for the trunk, building it up to get the texture and thickness, then thinner strokes for the main branches. Don't overload the tip of the iron when you do the branches either.... I use the stylus to put in the finer twigs. If you have trees in your garden, have a look at them....take a photo even...and see just how they form their unique shapes. That way your trees will look more natural.

Anyway, I hope that helps, though as a kind of naive style of painting, it is rather sweet....just not how you personally wanted it to turn out.

Have another go?

Maria x
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waxingsteve
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:ta: Maria :huggy: I think you're right - just not getting the balance right and colour blending seems to have escaped me entirely on this one :rolleyes: Thanks for the tips ;) Whether I'll do this again, or simply make sure I don't repeat the same mistakes, is another matter :D

Steve :)
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mifmif
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Don't forget Steve.....making mistakes is a good thing! You'd never learn anything without them! Personally, if it was me I'd have another go, but not for a couple of days. Go away and do some abstract or something, just to get the frustration out of your system! Then go back and try again with a new perspective! I bet you anything you like, the next landscape will be brilliant!

Maria x
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waxingsteve
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I've certainly got to get the landscapes right again - with that commission to do ;)

Steve :)
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mifmif
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I'm sure you'll get there again! We all paint pictures that we're not totally happy with from time to time. You should see some of my failures!

But then again.....

NOT! :lol:

Maria x
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TerryJ
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Hi Steve - the sky looks very oriental and maybe if the tree was more knobbly and twisted it would have had a very japanesy look. When I done my tree I used - believe it or not - just orange and violet - weird but they just blended.

So if you do decide to work on this - add some branches forking off the straight ones (M's idea of indigo and olive would be perfect) and do it a bit shaky handed.

If the foreground was darker dabbing - I like prussian blue and majenta too - it'll merge into browny shades with what's on there - it could give a real dimension.

If you do give it a go - can we see the results....

Because the sky is so lovely it might be worth giving it a go...

It's always so nice seeing your work :thumbup; :thumbup;

Love x :wave:
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waxingsteve
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Maria : :r :r

:ta: Terry :huggy: Shakey is the only thing I can do :r It had been ages since I'd used just the iron and scraper :) Of course, if I could remember which wax block was which colour, it would probably help ;) I can see me having to rethink how I store them, so that I can have them in clearly marked pigeonholes :r I'm just as bad with watercolours - if the tube has lost its label, I'm lost :blush: :lol:

Steve :)
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TerryJ
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:r :r :r

Same thing here - I've found a trick - y'know the blobs of wax that drip off the iron - well - I work on a plastic topped table - so they dry.

Well when I use the stylus - I use these instead of the waxes (how mean can you get)- there I was yesterday doing the next animal for Springwatch - put my stylus in a 'brown' blob. Wrong - the animal in question now has a vivid purple nose. How fetching..... :eyo:


Love x :wave:
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mifmif
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:r Must remember that tip! :P

Maria x
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waxingsteve
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You'll have to keep a permanent marker handy too - to note down what colours they are :r :r

Steve :)
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diddydi
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Steve, a little tip i've stumbled on. \you know these storage cabinets you can get for the workshop/garage, to hold screws and nails and things? Well, i,ve discovered each little compartment will hold at least 4 waxes. they also stack and interlock. If you also get some little sticky lables, you can write the name of colour on them, and scribble the colour next to it, the stick them on to each compartment! Voilla! easy to see your colours, easy to keep tidy,takes up less room, and very easy for transportation! :D :D :D :D
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waxingsteve
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:ta: Di :thumbup; Guess that shows I'm not much of a handyman, eh? :r Never even crossed my mind :blush:

Steve :)
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ezchile
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I actually really like the subtle hues you've used for the sky and mountains there Steve.

Gives it a surreal, almost dreamlike quality.

x

Col!
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waxingsteve
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:ta: Col :) Skies and mountains are the two things I practice most so they kind of crop up in this form quite a bit ;) Hopefully, I'll be getting some A3 card soon, then I'll be sweating for ages working on something I've had in mind for a while, now, featuring mountains more powerfully - I hope :crossed:

Steve :)
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ezchile
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I'm looking forward to that already Steve!

x

Col!

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mifmif
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Been saying for ages you should try A3! Can't wait to see what you come up with! :thumbup;

Maria x
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waxingsteve
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:ta: Col and Maria :) I'm half afraid of it, but also looking forward to the attempt :D

Steve :)
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ezchile
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Fear and Excitement are quite similar feelings when you think about it.

;)
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