(updated Apr 2 '07) Critique my Speed Painting Please!!

[mokad]

Hi everyone

This thread will be my way of improving my speed painting techniques. I will be posting speed paintings for about 2 months straight here, hopefully twice a week or more. (except for May, since i'll be in Brazil with limited internet access). Here are the first three i've done with reference. These ones i had aimed to finish in 30-40 minutes. Please leave comments to help me get better! I find i am having trouble conveying depth. Thanks!

The references will appear below each painting.

http://amokart.blogspot.com

[Rascar Capac]

hello

I dont think its a coincidence that your third piece turned out as you best study, cause the third photo works best to illustrate atmospheric perspective.
ex: FG to BG, overlaping, dark to light, hard to soft, etc...

I dont think studying the 2nd photo is gonna help in what you're trying to achieve. The middleground is completely dark and you dont get much feel for depth other than the mountains in the BG. And in this case, as in the photo, your study of it is the least successful.

The first photo is ok too but that tree in the middleground to the left comes very close to the darks in the FG and kills the depth. And this of course again, is traslated in your piece. You generally dont want to have you darkest darks in your middleground to be darker than your darks in the Foreground. It immediately brings that element forward and kills depth.

Good that you're sticking to BW. What I would also do is pick only three values and reproduce these photos in very graphic form. No modeling, just quick 5 minute flat opaque abstract versions of these. They may seem boring but they will help alot in the long run.


Oh and if all else fails...view these in thumbnail size and SQUINT. It will make make you see immediately what's not working.

hope that helps!

[mokad]

Rascar Capac - Thanks very much for the solid comments. I will take those into consideration for my next set of studies, and i will upload them here. Hopefully i will get more feedback and continue to improve =) I find that actually blurring the reference photo helps in trying to achieve a basic level of reproducing the image as a loose painting.

[OlegDjimbinov]

i am not a speedpainting guru, but hope this helps

worked in painter 9. from background to front. the branch of the tree was the last touch. aprox 15 minutes. tools: palette knife and oil pastels.

[mokad]

OlegDjimbinov - that looks pretty good, i haven't tried painter but maybe i will soon, i like the way you get the sharp edges there.. I suppose i could make a custom brush to do that in photoshop also.


Here's one a i did today with its reference.. Took about 40 minutes.

[mokad]

here's another for today!