MartinGill561 - Composition 1.1

[MartinGill561]

Ok heres my first study! I found this quite challenging!

THE SHY PEASANT - ILYA REPIN:
Ive really fallen in love with Repin's work recently, I only found out about his work while looking through the masters work in google. What i really like about this piece is how he captured the emotion in the portrait.
One of the main things that i noticed with this piece regarding composition, is the use of contrast in values to really get the viewer to focus in on the peasants face, and particularly his right eye to help sell the story behind the portrait.

40 Min study.


Thank you!

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[MartinGill561]

Heres my second study!

THE DARK KINGDOM - FRAZETTA
I noticed with the composition in this piece how the use of a bright background helps make the main figure pop, and also how the darker rocks around the edge of the painting and the way they are pointing, helps draw you towards the center of the picture.

1 Hour study:


Thank you!

[Jason Manley]

nice quick study. Three things...which I keep sharing tonight...and they are very basic....and before i forget, double check your leg where it inserts into the drapery as his clearly comes from the hip.

a. slow down and be sure your shapes are roughed in and mapped out very very accurately. flip the images horizontally and vertically more if need be.
b. do a pass toward the end where you double check and triple check all your values, starting with the largest shapes.
c. make sure you are accurately rendering your edges...don't leave things too soft in areas.


keep it up!

Jason

[MartinGill561]

Ok, thank you Jason!
I've tried to keep your points in mind for this next study.

CHRIST IN THE STORM ON THE LAKE OF GALILEE - REMBRANDT:
Regarding the composition, Rembrandt used the contrast in values to really get the viewer to focus in on the sailors trying to control the boat in the storm, also the shapes the sails and mast help keep the viewer within the picture.

2 HOURS 30 MIN STUDY:


Thank you!

[MartinGill561]

Phew, i enjoyed this one! Took extra time on this, to get it as close as I can.

PORTRAIT OF AN AUTHOR - ILYA REPIN:
I noticed in this piece how Repin used economy in the authors clothing, and also how he used a secondary emphasis with the books on the table to show that this person has something to do with books, in this case an author.

4 HOUR STUDY:



Thank you!

[Meilin]

Nice work, there is some good improvements in here. Keep it up

[MartinGill561]

Thanks for the support Meilin!

Heres my next study.

FARALLON ISLAND - BIERSTADT:
In this composition i can see how repetition is used with the c curves in the waves and the rock formation, and variety is used with the seals and seagulls.

4 HOUR STUDY:


-Martin

[MartinGill561]

Heres another!

PORTRAIT - SARGENT
I noticed in this piece how Sargent used economy to keep the focus on the face, and also how theres a nice rhythm starting with the folds in the arm and moving its way round to the face.

2 HOUR STUDY



-Martin

[MartinGill561]

And another!

EGYPTIAN WATER CARRIER - GEROME:
In this piece I believe the the high contrast of the shawl, helps to frame the girl's face, and also how the post that she's leaning on points towards her face.

2 HOUR STUDY:


-Martin

[MartinGill561]

double post

[Jason Manley]

whoa...that is a hell of an improvement. now we need to really get you to be consistent. the sargent portrait for example is not of the same quality level as the earlier portrait of the male that made your first study look like two years ago skill wise. you can do it. keep up the great work.

[MartinGill561]

Wow, thank you Jason!

[MartinGill561]

Ok heres my next!

STORM IN THE MOUNTAINS - BIERSTADT:
In this piece i noticed how Bierstadt used motion and rhythm with the clouds and lighting in a circular motion, to bring the viewer around the canvas.

2 HOUR 30 MIN STUDY:


-Martin

[MartinGill561]

Another one bites the dust!

OLD MAN WITH A BEARD - REMBRANDT:
I enjoyed this one! I think i got the likeness wrong, made him look angry! :p I noticed with the piece how the subtle changes in value on the background help to pop the face out more, also the detail in the face compared to the background and his clothing, help to sell the emphasis in this piece.

2 HOUR STUDY:


-Martin

EDIT: Looking at the piece now that it's uploaded, I think i've made it a bit too contrasty

[Meilin]

The piece is not too far off value wise, it's mostly the big highlight on top of the eyebrow which is a bit too glaring.
What would really help this piece is to put some time into the edges, rembrand painted it mostly with very soft edges whilst yours has mostly hard edges.

[MartinGill561]

Ok i've softened the edge's up, sorted out the eyebrow and touched some other bits.
I think it looks better! Thank you Meilin.



-Martin

[verilyvexed]

Awesome progress, and love the pieces you've chosen. With the Repin Author portrait, I couldn't tell which was which until I noticed his signature (unless that's your signature, in which case that's a nice signature you have there, and also great job). The Rembrandt looks great. I'm not sure if this would be helpful or would detract from the point of the exercise, so feel free to disregard, but a paper texture or textured brush layer with low opacity (maybe set to multiply or overlay as the blend mode) might help replicate the canvas/aged texture in pieces. (Then again, it could easily throw the values way off on a finished piece, so -- very possibly not helpful. )

[MartinGill561]

Thank you verilyvexed! No thats not my signature hahaha.
Yeah i might have a go with putting a texture next time, we'll see how it turns out

-Martin

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you verilyvexed! No thats not my signature hahaha.
Yeah i might have a go with putting a texture next time, we'll see how it turns out

-Martin

[MartinGill561]

Here's my next one!

THE SUN GODDESS - FRANK FRAZETTA:
I noticed in this piece how the composition of the rock she's standing on points towards her for emphasis, and also the use of contrasting values of the bear/sabertooth? behind her, help to push her forward on the canvas.
I struggled a bit with this one, getting the shapes and the mapping correct, I think the bear's head is wrong aswell

3 HOUR STUDY:


-Martin

[Jason Manley]

nice job so far. the rembrandt would benefit from more textured brushes to get that surface captured. the frazetta is a little less contrasting in value than you are doing, like with the strong light on the figure. double check your values and surface textures and you will see good progress.


j

[verilyvexed]

Love your Frazetta!

[MartinGill561]

Thank you!
Heres another!

AGAINST THE GODS - FRANK FRAZETTA:
With this piece, I like how rhythm is used from the lightning bolt, zig-zagging down through the sword, his arm and on through his body. Also the brush strokes in the background are all pointing in the direction of the figure for more emphasis.

1 HOUR 30 MIN STUDY:


-Martin

[RaliVanMinks]

The more time you spend the more details you catch :o) I like your progress so far, especially Frazetta's Sun goddess. Keep up the good work!

[MartinGill561]

Thank you RaliVanMinks!

Next up!

BEGGAR FISHER GIRL - ILYA REPIN:
I lost a bit of momentum with this one, i was on and off it for a few days.
Regarding the composition, Repin used the contrast of values to keep the emphasis on the face, also having the gradient of dark to light on the background, causes the eye to naturally gravitate upto the face.

2 HOUR 45 MIN STUDY:


-Martin

[MartinGill561]

I've touched up studies #9 and #10, also I downloaded the painter x3 trial and decided to mess about and add some texture to these two studies, i might do my next study in painter see how it turns out





-Martin

[MartinGill561]

Next up!

SELF PORTRAIT AS PARIS - ANTHONY VAN DYCK:
In this composition, a lot of variety was used in the clothing. Also there is rhythm in the shape of his arm and the way his head is tilted. A strong use of contrast with his skin helps the viewer focus in on the emphasis of this piece.

1 HOUR 30 MIN STUDY:

Attachment 1944924

-Martin

EDIT: I didnt bother with Painter in the end!

[Jason Manley]

you are doing such a great job with your shapes and values. at this point your pieces are feeling overly slick...a challenge that can be resolved by integrating textured brushes so you capture the surface feel of the texture. In the Repin, for example, if that one is painted smoothly, it loses the rough feel that is so key to the capturing the character in the original. keep an eye on that. great work too.

jm

[MartinGill561]

Thank you Jason! Have you got any good tips or tutorials you could point me towards to get good textured brushes?

[MartinGill561]

This next one i struggled with the shapes and values a bit, but i managed to keep it down to an hour and half.

BATHSABEE - GEROME:
The use of contrasting values help to focus on the main figure of the naked woman, whilst the woman kneeling down is dressed in dark robes to make her less prominent. Also though the fact that the woman kneeling is looking up to the naked woman helps draw the viewers eye back to the primary emphasis. Ive just realized that this reference image that i have used is cropped so the composition is messed up. oops.

1 HOUR 30 MIN STUDY:



-Martin

[MartinGill561]

Number 15!

THE SILVER WARRIOR - FRAZETTA:
As you can see with my paint over, (RED) I noticed how there is a triangle helping to push the viewer up towards the warrior whilst his pose pushes you back towards the polar bears. (YELLOW) The glare on the sword draws the viewer to it as a tertiary emphasis, whilst subtly pointing towards the warrior. (BLUE) The placement of the cloud behind the warriors face, pops him out and further emphasizes him as the main focus point.


1 HOUR 20 MIN STUDY:



-Martin