Sunday, October 23, 2011

Background Check

Hmm ... is it done? I was planning on doing a dark, dramatic background, partially because it actually is dark in the photo and it sets it off really nicely. However, the real dark is shadow from another row of tulips that I eliminated from the painting for the sake of the composition. To keep it clean. So I started to feel worried that the dark background wouldn't fit, especially because it wouldn't make sense (how would the light be coming from behind if behind is black?) and I wanted it to stay light and airy. Not heavy. I kept pacing, trying to decide what to do, really wishing I had Photoshop and could've tried out a few different background colors without messing with the painting itself. Someday! Then I figured, hey, why not paint a light blue background and if I'm not happy with it, I can always add to it to make it as dark as I want. I added a little salt for interest in the blue (salt dropped on the wet areas makes those crazy little snowflake-type variations), which I think is nice. I like how fresh and happy it feels. I worry a little that the blue is too expected and thus, boring, but I don't know. Time to sleep on it. What do you think? Leave it as is?
Oh and here's the reference photo (As I mentioned, I changed a bit for the sake of a clean, interesting composition. Mother Nature is awesome, but often tends to clutter things a bit):

No comments:

Post a Comment