Quote: "You can't use up Creativity. The more you use, the more you have". Maya Angelow


Quiz:
What is the technique called where painting is applied in a thick, textured way, with the marks made by the brush or palette knife remaining visible, such as in the work of Vincent van Gogh? (Yea...Karen, for the correct answer).
Answer: Impasto.  

Artwork: Some more beautiful artwork by my artist/students. Thank you.
Karen:
                  Look at that depth !!!!...(watercolor).

Bonnie:
             Great.     

Votes: I have received only 2 votes for the  marina composition....you can read them on "comments".  I would like to hear from more of you...anyone from the International community want to vote?

Question: What if I put a wrench in the mix and said....what about the subject matter? The focal point goes to the sailboats, but  is the subject matter the time of day, spacing of the area (background, middle ground and foreground), lighting, quietness, early morning etc? Which is more the contributing factor?...focal point or subject matter?...and how does it change the composition?...or does it?

Foreign Language: Since we are having international blog viewings, I added the language translator button. The countries that have viewed the blog this week are: USA, Russia, Germany, United Kingdom.

Have a great week.

Blog Views: I added a page view count section on the right...so now you can see how many have looked at it. 

Plein Air: Below is my second attempt at painting Elk Lake Marina. I went back on a weekday and there were less people and dogs. I had all the intentions of using my support horizontally, but after a few thumbnail sketches, I decided to use it vertically. That did present some problems...it was top heavy....24" x 11" of 1/2" thick hardboard.  Since I don't use an easel with watercolors, I had to find a tree stump that was at the right height and at the right location to help hold the long heavy support.  The morning light was steamy, but the reflections were there, unlike my first visit (See Posting Sept. 7).. It was cold...it got down to 28* that night..in August..in Bend!!! Ouch....hence, my short visit.

I changed the composition by: painting only 4 boats, using a very limited palette and adding color to the boats (focal points are to have the color and the most contrast by painting the the dark water behind the boats).

Color Palette: I used only 2 colors for the main part of this painting...then added the colors for the boats. I used Joseph Zbukvic palette, but then only a few of his colors. 

Help...This is not a Test !!!   

Vote for Your Composition Preference: 

Leave a comment.

After arriving back home and looking at this painting for a few days, I decided that the composition may not be correct. It looked okay with my thumbnails. Perhaps, I painted to fast (about 30min) or when I got to the bottom half of the painting the support was harder to balance or I misjudged my composition (that's my vote)?

Below are 3 versions of cropping. Which one do you think is the best composition? Leave a comment. 

Vote for:

A...Original Painting.

B...Little cropped off the bottom.

C...All of the bottom is cropped.

                                                                              A

  

B

C

Vote...by leaving a comment (or e-mailing me).