Still Life - Show Me Your Soul

[MarkHarchar]

Hi all,
I post very few things in this section, but I have finiahed an 18 x 24 still life in oils that I am rather happy with. There is alot of symbolism in this painting as it is a portrayal of myself. The book is the a copy of a Herbert Draper study which contains the first painting that I tried and failed on the cover. The chess pieces are the king looming over the knocked down pawn. Music was my first artistic endeavor, the second being winemaking. All these things surround a bible which has guided my life.

I choose a secondary color scheme trying to focus on slight variances or those hues. This complete and I don't expect to make any changes, however, your input will be put to use on future endeavors.

I have included my starting and ending points.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/hylandr2/DSCF4469.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/hylandr2/show-me-you-soul-final.jpg

[fukifino]

Really nice, man! You've definately come a long way. Glad to see you still going strong. :D

Given the strength of the entire painting, I would say the obvious paint strokes on the cloth in the lower left hand stand out to me the most as an area that could use a little work.

[darkchild]

Damn, thats beautiful!! You should really be proud of yourself. This is a huge drastic difference from your other pieces. Not that your other works aren't good but this one takes the lead... for now until you use your new skill to produce more impressive works!! That reflection of the bottle on the book cover is just well done. Nice metaphorical study. I unfortunately don't know anything when it comes to painting so I don't have much to crit other than the bottle looks a bit crooked in the neck. Great work and I hope to see you produce more like this one. Keep it up!!:)

[Seedling]

This is a nice composition, it’s a fun “portrait” of you, and you pulled off the realism well. I could reach in and pick up those brushes! And the cover of the book is the star of the show. You obviously had a good strong light-source, but the colors are rather blah. As example, the whites are pure white, when they should be showing the color of the light-source, and reflecting the colors of the objects around them. Were you copying a photograph? That could account for it.

[MarkHarchar]

Forest, thanks for the hooray's my friend. Yup still going. I am 9 classes from my Associates and I credit you with the kick in the but that put me on this path. I agree with your assesment of the cloth. I tormented over all the other pieces and when I got to the cloth, I had nothing left. I couldn't get the tonal changes I was going for so I just went with a stroked look. I should have tried harder.

DC,
I consider this my first quality original piece. You may be right about the bottle shape. It is sometimes difficult to attain geometric perfection without it starting to look mechanical. I will work on that. I am happy with the book cover as well.

Seedling, that you for the kind words. I thing that part of the white problem that you are seeing is the photo that is posted. The only pure white in this piece is the highlighted area of the pawn. All others are toned to some degree. It is possible that they could have been pushed farther. I will keep it in mind as I continue to work on other pieces.