Thursday, 30 June 2011

Bohemian Anniversary - tweaked

There are only two medium sized changes. The first change is to the trees and church tower that sit behind the bridge. I scraped out these areas as much as I could and then added back in a better range of greens for the trees and reworked the church tower adding some detail. The second change is to the reflection of the bridge gatehouse. This started to get scary with lots of wet colour around so I decided to leave this as soon as it resembled the reference photo a little more.

There are a number of minor sized changes. I tried to adjust the colour of the building on the far right back to white but this proved difficult so I left it as a paler pink. I tried to suggest the river cruiser a little more and then just flicked highlights here and there. I added some missing statues to the bridge, adjusted the existing ones and suggested the side buttresses that provide support for the statues. I made a slight mess in a small part of the sky so I reworked this by adding some high wispy cirrus clouds! Finally, I added a few random blobs of colour to suggest the people walking over the bridge.

The secret of course is knowing when to stop. I could carry on tweaking this until Kingdom Come but I won't. I'm much happier with it ... so that's it - done. Move on to the next one!

Charles Bridge, Prague, oil on paper, 9" x 12"
Posted by at 12:08
Labels: , , ,

14 comments:

  1. Judy30 June 2011 at 13:05

    I like the changes you made, especially the church tower and the trees. The bridge looks less massive now too.
    Have we lost you to the world of oils now or are we going to see a watercolour soon?

    ReplyDelete
  2. jsicignano2.blogspot.com30 June 2011 at 13:12

    Michael, it looked great before and it looks Brilliant after the tweaking. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown30 June 2011 at 13:13

    Thank you Judy. No way, I'll never desert my watercolours! Seeing your recent landscapes has made me feel a bit guilty but, as my mum always used to say, 'a change is as good as a rest'. Watch this space :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unknown30 June 2011 at 13:17

    Hi Joan and thank you. They're just subtle changes but they made a difference. Thankfully I haven't had to put any of my recent efforts in the bin or under the kitchen tap yet LOL :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sandra Busby30 June 2011 at 13:55

    I liked it before and I like it now - Particularly the added people which give it life :0)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Unknown30 June 2011 at 14:02

    Thank you very much Sandra. Phew, looks like I got it right. It would have been so easy to completely mess it up but I just took my time and learnt a few things in the process :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Barbra Joan30 June 2011 at 14:06

    Excellent painting Michael. you are as good with oils as watercolor.
    Taking your time sure did pay off... BJ

    ReplyDelete
  8. Unknown30 June 2011 at 14:14

    Thank you, BJ for such lovely comments. I just hope I can still remember how to paint in watercolour ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Cristina Dalla Valentina30 June 2011 at 19:13

    So lovely this painting, Michael! You are so good with oils, I admire who can paint in this medium! Ciao!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Unknown30 June 2011 at 19:40

    Thank you very much, Cristina. Even after many years of watercolour, I still find it difficult at times, but oil seems so natural to me :-) Ciao!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous30 June 2011 at 20:09

    Both paintings are beautifully painted. Only the top has more action. It lives and there's more depth. Both paintings are beautifully painted

    ReplyDelete
  12. Unknown30 June 2011 at 20:18

    Thank you Renske. I'm very pleased that you see more life and depth in the top one. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Pat2 July 2011 at 10:49

    oh yes! Great tweaks!
    Frame it and get it on the wall :) xx

    ReplyDelete
  14. Unknown2 July 2011 at 10:56

    Thanks again Pat, I have a few to go for framing now (££££/$$$$). Michael pulls out his pocket linings and sighs :o)

    ReplyDelete

No silly verification words here - all comments are appreciated! Thank you :)

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)