Monday, February 13, 2012

Demise of the Yellow Duck

The close to final painting.  I fiddled around with this abstract for awhile because the large yellow blob in the middle was bothering me.  in some ways I think it could have been left as it was.
The first post.  The image I had in mind when I started this abstract was a large yellow mass in the middle of the page, but something about it didn't feel right. I kept seeing this cartoon-ish duck in flight.  That bothered me enough that I went on to change it.
The first thing I want to point out is that the two photographs taken of this painting are not of the same value.  The first photo was auto-corrected and the colors really jumped out.  I didn't want to misrepresent the real painting because while the colors are vibrant, they aren't that bright.  So I tried to make the finished
photo more like it actually appears on paper. So keep that in mind when viewing the two.
I was going along pretty deliberately with this abstract after the first post.  I didn't want to disturb the vibrant yellow in the middle too much, but I wanted to somehow integrate it into the rest of the painting. I added the reddish "trees" on the right and pulled out some paint to get some depth.  I tried to get some yellows to flow through to the edges a bit but it wasn't enough to take the attention away from that  yellow duck. This morning after some tinkering  and fiddling I got fed up. I jumped in with both feet and went bounding in there with the blues and Paynes gray.  I was surprised that I didn't panic when I saw how much irreversible painting I had done.  I moved pretty quickly to blend the darks with yellow ochre.  Some might think that the first painting was done, but I have to admit, this was a painting I was doing for myself and I didn't really care how it might be perceived.  Having said that, I would love to hear some input on what you think. I am now at the point where all I will be doing is cleaning up some hard lines and some messy brush strokes to allow the painting to flow a little better.
Finally I would like to note that there were some great discoveries made while doing this painting. One was how well the Paynes Gray, Ultramarine Blue and Yellow Ochre  interact with one another. Another was that a little Chinese white can be used to create some nice nuances of color as in the lower left corner (most noticeable in the first post in the red).  So it is with great pleasure that I present to you the title of this abstract....Demise of the Yellow Duck. "And now you know the rest of the story."

7 comments:

  1. I love seeing your talent explode. Work, paint, and stay happy and healthy. :)

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    1. Thanks, Kate. One of the great things about having a blog is that I can share what I'm doing with everyone. It's like physical exercise in that once you have been doing it for awhile, you begin to not only enjoy it, but find it a necessary part of your routine. That routine in combination with encouragement helps me move forward at a much greater pace than I expected. Thank you.

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  2. I always see things in abstracts and there is a lot of see and enjoy in this one. The colors are wonderful and vibrant and it looks very organic to me (grass, trees, perhaps water). I like it and hope you get time to bring this closer to what you have in mind (although it looks pretty darned good as it is).

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    1. Thanks, RH. Something about the yellow area is bothering me a little, but I also like it enough that I might not do much more with it.

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  3. Celeste Bergen Commented: "I think the painting is wonderful...and that you made a very sound decision to knock the yellow down. I really love the sense of light throughout!"

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  4. Thank you (again) Celeste. I am glad I changed the painting....
    Unfortunately After I published your comment and wrote a reply, I accidentally hit the delete link instead of deleting the mail and it deleted your post and my comment here on my blog. I couldn't find a way to retrieve it, so I re-posted your comment in my own comments above. Sorry.

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  5. Kevin, your gut was telling you that there was too much yellow and you were right - because it's a more cohesive painting now. However, that triangle shape now is the focal point - which is okay unless that's not what you wanted. I like the toned down yellow and still am seeing lots of bird imagery in there but more muted and the viewer has to come upon them and find them - a nice surprise! Well done, I'd say. And I love the title!

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