WIP acrylic painting of greenhouse interior

[sunandshadow]

My sister got a new office and there was a big blank spot on the wall where the previous occupant had removed a picture, so she asked me if I could paint a picture that size. She also said she wanted it to be in a style similar to a Kinkade - glowing light and kinda bucolic with architecture and plants. While I'm not a Kinkade fan (lol at that concept) I do like glowing light, architecture, and plants. So after some discussion we came up with the idea of a view from inside a greenhouse or conservatory.

So the brown parts here are supposed to be wood, the gold is supposed to be metal, and the various grays are supposed to be stone or cement. The blobby bit at the left is rocks which are going to have a waterfall over them. The gray gradient below the wall is going to be a sidewalk after I add some divisions. The ceiling needs some shadows, the door needs some windows and doorknobs, then I'm going to add trellis, urns, grass, a pond and stream, a footbridge over the stream, a fountain, a sundial, and lots more plants.

So, right now I'm mainly looking for suggestions on shadows and lighting for the ceiling. I was thinking some dark brown shadow above the brown wooden support? Or maybe black or gold mixed with black would be better? Then, I haven't really done anything with the light coming in the window - should I be putting orange or blue highlights anywhere? Are the wooden dividers between wall panels and oval windowframes okay the way they are, or do they need some kind of shadows or highlights? I'm kind of afraid to mess with them because I was already using my teeniest brush to make lines that thin, it would be way too easy to accidentally paint 'outside the lines' and mess up what I've got. :/

[sunandshadow]

Aw, no comments? I know there are people around here who know way more than me about lighting and shadows...

Anyway here's the current version, I added some shadows above the ceiling struts and divisions in the sidewalk.

[shrunkendesigner]

Ok, well, my advice is, don't be scared to throw down dark and bold colours to bring out the shapes. As you are working with acrylics, you can paint from dark to light so what I would do is create some of the focal point's forms with a dark blue-ish green and not worry about painting over some of the detail you have painted as the back wall (which looks great by the way).

Once you have some of the forms down, you could then add some highlighting from the direction of the windows. So by that, I mean make the surfaces that the light from the windows would touch, brighter and in a shade that is similar to the colour of the outside world. This is where you would have to think three dimensionally.

I would leave the fine detailing to last but you need to add the most detail to where you want the viewer to look. So, because of that, I would make the back wall darker as well as the window frames and add some fine highlights to the edges of the frames, maybe some shine on the glass. I say this because you don't want the backwall to be the main vocal point.

Seriously, don't be afraid to mess this piece up. As an artist, not every piece you create will be perfect or brilliant and approach aprhention is one way to stop your self from growing and learning. If you are afraid to mess it up or do it wrong... do it wrong. Doing it 'wrong' is the only way you'll learn to do it right... so to speak. There is no failure! Failing is a state of mind that should be changed to "Fail is a different word for result, and with that result you try something else until you suceed."

I hope that, even in a small way, I have helped. I look forward to tracing this piece's progress, Good luck!

[sunandshadow]

Thanks, yes that is helpful. I'm glad to hear you like what's there so far, and fortunately I was already planning to add a brown trellis on the left side of the wall which would cover up some of the stones (and the vines on the trellis would cover it up some more). On the right I'm going to add some urns with hibiscus plants. Then there should be a lot of stuff in the foreground to capture the viewer's attention - a bench, a tree, a sun dial, a fountain, and the central point of the painting will be a foot bridge over an artificial stream.

[Black Spot]

I find it odd that the wall follows the contours of the ovals so exactly, nor do I understand how the bottom bit fits in with the top. Saying that I like the colours and general feel of what you've painted.

[sunandshadow]

I find it odd that the wall follows the contours of the ovals so exactly, nor do I understand how the bottom bit fits in with the top. Saying that I like the colours and general feel of what you've painted.

In terms of architectural construction, I was imagining the stones of the wall go an inch or two behind the wood pieces. The wood pieces are covering over some kind of steel frame.

Bottom bit - you mean the brown underpainting? That's just a quick crappy sketch I did, and half-covered by stray paint from making the gradient on the sidewalk.