Being more painterly, a lot harder than it looks!
As you may have already read, I struggle with creating art that I actually love. I am a left-brained artist; that is, I paint what I see. But I admire those works with those strokes that are soft-edged, flowing, have movement in them and evoke that emotional appeal.
I have continued to try to work out of my comfort zone and found a reference photo at
Wet Canvas that was part of a soft pastel workshop last month.
This tricycle made me feel young again, and love the timely feel of it. My son also has a very similar red, Radio Flyer tricycle so it reminded me of him.
I started with the contrast underpainting again, a style I have grabbed hold of fully, and attempted to only "suggest" the lines of the tricycle, the trees, to soften the focus in the background and basically take these last few months of learning this medium and practice all those techniques in one painting! I find the vignette style edging actually draws you in to a "memory" or dreamlike moment, so I kept it.
I would love to hear your comments, especially those of you who have seen my detailed works. Is it an improvement or does it need something else?
