Finishing Drills for a Chronic Dabbler.

[animatosoor]

I agree, @MichaelaH. I will be going for something in between #3 and #4. Thank you.

I have been doing these colour studies. I plan to do some more till I find something I really like.:

Overall, though, I've run into a failure this week: It's Monday, and I'm still at the colour studies stage with this. I'm realising how much of a struggle it is for me to pose human figures properly and have them interact in a convincing way.

[MichaelaH]

@animatosoor I like 2 the best, after that maybe 6. Yeah I am also late, had to do some custom order...

[animatosoor]

@MichaelaH Thanks for your input! I know it can be hard to manage various deadlines. We can do this, though! You have my support.

Progress shot:

[animatosoor]

I had to take a hiatus to deal with some personal stuff, but now I can do this again!

Week 8:

Exploratory sketches:

Sketch:

Value studies:

Colour studies:

I would love feedback on this, please! Do any of the colour studies work? At this stage, is there anything I should change in the drawing?

[Heather Boyd]

@animatosoor 4 is my favourite, I was deciding through the others (1-2) before seeing number 4 and couldn't confidently decide. But when I saw 4 I thought wow yes! It was warm like number 1 but has a warmer autumn summer mix glow (my words do no justice how I feel about number 4). I also like the darker scribbles in the foreground. It encourages me to see you found a green that works so well in the warmer colour study of number 4.

[TessaW]

Welcome back! I appreciate this thread, as I'm also a chronic dabbler and have a hard time finishing pieces. It's inspirational to see you get so much quality work done.

Color is one of those areas that can be pretty dang subjective- and I think you've gotten all 4 to look appealing already! My personal favs are 1 and 2.

[KaraDaniel]

@animatosoor I love this thread you have created! I can really relate! I think all your color studies are great but if I had to choose one I'd say #1.

[baileyvidler]

@animatosoor Just wanted to pop in and say that I really admire your dedication here! It's very inspirational to a fellow dabbler. Keep up the good work!

[animatosoor]

@Heather-Boyd Thank you for the lovely feedback! I was also leaning towards #4 and tried to make it work, but quickly realised that the glowing heads against the warm, light coloured background was light against light. D= I had to then choose a darker background so that I could have light against dark.

@TessaW Thank you, and I feel you - I still struggle with finishing my work. You can do it! We can support each other.

Thank you, @KaraDaniel - I did end up going with the cooler colours, haha.

@baileymvidler That's really sweet - thank you. All of you are so supportive.

Progress shot:

I was trying hard not to do yet another night-time scene, and yet here I am, lol. I do want to explore a variety of lighting situations and colour schemes in subsequent paintings. For this one, I am going to go and continue with the detailing. Any feedback would be welcome, as always.

[animatosoor]

Another progress shot:

Sometimes I wonder if the rough-looking strokes I've used here make the illustration look unfinished and unrefined?

[animatosoor]

I went and changed quite a bit because I felt the light value of the bushes in the background and the lady's dress were competing with the focal point - the glowing heads. I removed the bushes entirely because I felt they were making it hard to focus on the characters.

[Notes to self] Weak points to work on in subsequent pieces:

• Drapery - Struggled to draw and paint it
• Evening light - I don't know what colours to use
• Rendering style - How much texture do I really want in my work, and what kinds of strokes do I want to see in my work? Revisit dream portfolio.

Final: