Learning to Get Beyond the Literal- Plein Air of San Francisco Skyline
I went out to the Berkeley Marina and did some plein air painting in early June. Sadly, it was really windy!!!
I'd not painted this sort of super-distant scene before, and had some difficulty with the composition-- we were right on the walk next to the bay, and there was basically no foreground to pull you into the picture, which I didn't care for. I pulled back a bit, just to include one of the trees as a framing device. I guess I should have backed up and included the pier or walking path, etc. in the painting, to draw the eye in.
In the end, the scene was also rather muted color-wise. It was one of those situations where I can see the value of the taking what you see and "transmuting it" into something that really calls to you. I'd like to see greater value contrast, and richer chroma somewhere. It's not really the way things were, but having ended up with this image (not terrible, but not something I really care to repeat), I can see the value in using what I see as only the beginning. In the end, the only thing that's left from that morning's outing is this painting. The painting needs to work on it's own, as it's own composition.
Something to learn!
I'd not painted this sort of super-distant scene before, and had some difficulty with the composition-- we were right on the walk next to the bay, and there was basically no foreground to pull you into the picture, which I didn't care for. I pulled back a bit, just to include one of the trees as a framing device. I guess I should have backed up and included the pier or walking path, etc. in the painting, to draw the eye in.
In the end, the scene was also rather muted color-wise. It was one of those situations where I can see the value of the taking what you see and "transmuting it" into something that really calls to you. I'd like to see greater value contrast, and richer chroma somewhere. It's not really the way things were, but having ended up with this image (not terrible, but not something I really care to repeat), I can see the value in using what I see as only the beginning. In the end, the only thing that's left from that morning's outing is this painting. The painting needs to work on it's own, as it's own composition.
Something to learn!