Peaches Still Life

[CindyH]

Well, my batting average is close to zero :) , but I'm going to keep trying. I also am trying to come up with a composition for a black and white show in Sept.

So the first question is...does this work, does it need to have some of the bottom cropped off?

Second question...if it works would it work better in black/white/grays or sepia tones? (obviously if it's sepia tones, it will be for a different show than the black/white)

Here are my resource shots....I do appreciate your feedback

[llodercpart]

Hi Cindy-

It is nice. I have 2 comments, just opinions and you know what those are worth!! The cherries are lost in the back and you have 2s instead of an odd number. I was always told that items should be in odd numbers for composition interest. I do not know a lot about that suggestion but it seems to hold merit.

I also know that to hold interest with a black and white work, it must have lots of contrast to pull to observer in.

Anne Massey does only work with black Prismacolor. I know she has a website but do not know what it is. It might be great to take a look. She has a couple of pieces in museums in Europe, she lives in France. I took a workshop from her too at the San Francisco Convention in 2001. She also does some color but her preference is black. Let me know what you find.

Happy painting..... ( A couple little elephants for luck!!)
Linda

:dance3: :dance3:

[llodercpart]

http://www.annjamesmassey.com/

FYI

[Rose]

:) Cindy,

I agree with Linda with the cherries getting lost and the lack of contrast. The tablecloth is a bit long, but then I am just learning! Overall, I like the composition. Maybe we need Arlene to peek in?

[CindyH]

Thanks Linda and Rose for your feedback. I was hoping I could get away with two peaches....hubby ate the other!! Guess not :) I love Ann James Massey's work...I have visited her website many times. She does incredible work, doesn't she?

Back to the drawing board! Thank you for taking the time to comment :bye1:

[Rose]

Husbands!!! Maybe he could put in a better replacement? Time to send him to the store! Geesh! :D

[Arlene]

actually i think you have the basis of an excellent composition. almost. and using two's is not an absolute. in this case it works. check out what i've done.

i cropped the right side. it was unnecessary and because of it, the pot was centered. i pulled the cloth over more and then made sure the line pulled your eye up to the pot and the peach.

i darkened the cherries so in b/w they'd have weight like the pot. otherwise everything was light and nothing was there to move your eye around.

i moved the right peach a bit more to the right so it gives a more interesting negative shape on the right. lastly i upped the contrast.

[CindyH]

Geez, Arlene....I was thinking about taking up knitting! This is so much harder than it looks. :rolleyes:

I have a new appreciation for the still lifes that the Old Masters created, and for anyone who paints still life or photographers for that matter. I used to think it was just a good way to not have to paint plein air.

Thank you for your help and feedback. I did like this one, I printed it off and looked at it for a couple of days. Can you articulate why the two peaches work and I could get by without three? I know that composition can be very subjective after some basics have been achieved...but I am just trying to learn the basics.

I did understand about the lack of contrast in the cherries and the negative space that the right peach creates.

I appreciate your PS skills also, at this point I can't move things around in an "almost" photo, but I am working on it.

Thanks! I will drag it out of the "potential" file and work on it some more.

[Arlene]

ok quickly because i'm off to the mets game tonight rather suddenly.

you have a great triangle working here and the two peaches help your eye bounce from one to the other, plus the front peach is different in values. but what holds it together and keeps it from being boring is that you have an odd number of objects total...five.

also the way the grouping is. one group of two objects and the other of three.

i really like this composition Cindy.

[Arlene]

[QUOTE=CindyH]Geez, Arlene....I was thinking about taking up knitting! This is so much harder than it looks. :rolleyes:

I have a new appreciation for the still lifes that the Old Masters created, and for anyone who paints still life or photographers for that matter. I used to think it was just a good way to not have to paint plein air.
[QUOTE]

yes it is hard! anything worth it usually is. :) cindy start doing something for yourself. anytime you are sitting with objects in front of you, start rearranging them and imagine how they'd look in a composition. see if you can make them work.

good composition is the diference in my humble (:eek: me humble???) opinion between a good drawing and a great drawing. anyone can be taught to render an object if they have the desire... but it's that something extra that moves it away from just rendering.

[Arlene]

btw, when you win an award, a box of godiva truffles sent this way would be greatly appreciated. ;)

[CindyH]

btw, when you win an award, a box of godiva truffles sent this way would be greatly appreciated. ;)
:D :D You got it! Two boxes if you like!

[Denise]

I love this, Cindy! I love both the b & w and the sepia....gosh a series would be neat.....a b & w, a sepia and a color...:rolleyes: ;):)

[Meisie]

;) Denise...not asking much are you?

I find these composition threads fascinating!

Meisie