Wednesday, May 11, 2005

LEARNING A LITTE BIT

Here is another exercise I did. I basically took a photo from Corbis and tried to recreate it in photoshop. The results aren't exactly photo-real, I realize. I am really more concerned with the process--what I'm learning about color, light and how things look in shadow etc...

What I've learned is that, in painting, I have to realize that I have to "unlearn what I have learned." I realized that different plants are different hues and shades of green (who knew?) and that they all look different in direct sunlight. I also learned that shadows are almost never black or grey. They can be purple, dark green and someitmes even light blue. I know that most of my artists friends out there are, like, "Well DUH!" The fact is that when I work with color I almost always try and out-think what actually exists in nature. Plants are green. Skies are blue. Sunlight is yellow. Flesh appears pinkish, etc... My brain, thinking it knows better, is telling my eyes to nevermind what they see and telling my hand to override the sensory input to create what I THINK I see... Confusing? You bet... As I have said before, I am pretty much self taught--particularly when it comes to color. My first attempts at painting have been pretty embarassing. I am happy to say that while I am slowly getting better, I still have tons to learn. Still, learning is all the fun.

Anyway, y'all let me know what you think of this effort...

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