Still Life with Hobbit

[Chris Beatrice]

This is the first thing I've posted to this site so please go easy on me! This is a relatively small oil painting I did a couple years ago when I officially switched from acrylic to oil. I'm now dabbling in digital (Painter & PShop) as well.

http://www.chrisbeatrice.com/images/still_life_hobbit_lg.jpg

Let me know what you think!

[J May]

I like it Chris, has a cozy Hildebrant brothers feel to it. Nice use of warm and cool colour.

Cheers,
jm

[schmu_20mol]

this is a really refreshing piece ... just one thing I noticed is the corner in the back ...a lil' more shadows would help

keep it up

[hoopa]

agreed, I like this. Its got a very good feel about it.

[Toonboy]

Awesome color and use of the warm colors in the room.... I like it alot. You seem to work pretty solidly with the oil... I'd be interested in seeing your acrylic stuff too.
-Toons

[Chris Beatrice]

Thanks all:
btw, I'm not psyched about the back corner either. Some of the problem is caused by the bad photo (I've never been able to figure out how to photograph paintings too well).

Toonboy, when I switched to oil things opened up for me a lot. In hindsight I regret struggling with acrylic for so long. I guess I thought oils were "old fashioned", but now I feel like (as far as traditional media go) oils are the ultimate. They're the most versatile, and easy to manipulate. Acrylics dry a different color than they are when wet, and I could never really get a handle on this. Also, since the last acrylic I did was a few years ago, my work has generally improved. The long and the short of it is, looking back I don't think my acrylic work is very good!

[infinitipo]

gotta love hobbits:)

[McNallyism]

nice color and mood, but theres a lot of missed oppurtunity here for cool design. All the objects in the hobit's house seem pretty conventional and generic. Why not add that extra middle-earth spice? carved details, unusually shaped furniture, decorative patterns, etc. I understand that hobbits are simple folk, but I still think their world is so different from ours that things would just naturally look exotic....


=Sean

[Chris Beatrice]

Thanks Sean, good points. I always get lazy in the end, i.e. I intend to add a lot more cool exotic details, etc., but then once I get a handle on the composition and rendering I just want to finish the stupid thing. I'm going to post another painting that's similar to this one, but on which I spent a little more time on the details.
Thanks again. This is a great forum. You guys are really supportive and your comments are right on target.

[LEN]

very cozy. The fire matched against the cold blue ( winter night I'm asuming) really defines the mood. Great stuff.