I don't even know where to start with all that went wrong with this one... It was the first time I worked with liquid clear, so of course I put too much of it on the canvas. Then the sky came together quite nicely, but the sea.... I don't really know what was the problem, I think I just couldn't make the colors mix and blend quite the way the painter does... So it just didn't work no matter how hard I tried. And the paints were behaving in a strange way because there was too much liquid clear. So I changed the painting a bit the way Bob paints tropical seascape. I really think he explains seascapes in an easier way and I find it easier to do it the way he does - to first cover all the canvas and then put in the big wave and the highlights, meanwhile in this painting the process was reversed which I found very difficult. In the end I really didn't like the big wave so I covered it with palm trees. Which of course didn't turn out the way I wanted them to. And then I realized that there really isn't much to look at in this painting because you almost can't see the big wave... I'm really not satisfied with this one. Well, better luck next time.
Comments
Thank you Voy, you always have so many nice things to say! 🤗
Umagaan, your painting is great!
1. I think through all the struggles you learned a lot and struggles make painting look nicer as we overcome the challenges and this is what you did here.
2. Great work on the sky blending.
3. Awesome work on blending transition between far purple of the ocean to the green blue. Blending in the sea is the utmost skill to train.
4. Shadows of the main wave are extremely good and many times they are not that pronounced in Bobs versions that make those ones flat. Thus, your wave has great curvature and shape because of that shadow.
5. My favorite part is exactly one you covered with the palm trees, the foam is fantastic,and that foam tells the story of the biggest wave in the world. There is famous location where surfers ride that 35 store wave. Check those videos on YouTube and you will see your wave there. Only little note that far left shadow on the foam needs just a bit more blending with the rest of the foam to create the roll of the foam.
Give yourself a bit time to cool down as this might drive your unhappiness quite a lot. Trust me you will get better with more practice and analysis of the each new painting.
Wow Sunnylady thanks a lot for your comment. After you pointed it all out I can see that there are quite a few good things about this painting, but at first I only saw the struggle it took to paint it...
I really learn a lot from every new painting, and I have some of my paintings set up in a guest room so I can look at them and think about what I can do differently next time and what I like and should remember how it's done... I have to say I really enjoy painting and even though sometimes it's hard and things don't go the way I would like them to I think I found something that really brings me a lot of joy. And I'm so happy that there are people who are willing to take a few minutes of their time to comment on my paintings and give me a few tips and encouraging words, so thank you :)
You said "I don't even know where to start with all that went wrong with this one..." I'd like to wager a guess of "nowhere". I think this is an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING seascape. If you're not happy with this one, I'd love to see a version of it you WERE happy with! I'll be using yours as inspiration for my attempt at this one. Great job. Don't be so critical of yourself!
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It's really not bad at all Umagaan. Look at the good things in here like the wave colouring (that really is good), that shy pink sky, the tree trunks .... there is plenty to be pleased about!
'Anatomy of a wave' is considered one of the best to start your first seascape. Although in my opinion, having done 14 seascapes already, it is not. I haven't done this one cause I believe there are easier ones. Keeping in mind though that a seascape is never very easy.
Looking forward to your next one!!