Tuesday 17 January 2012

December/ January Challenge

The latest in the little challenge series that Peter Ward and myself indulge in. Peter set this one and sent me a number of pictures taken in this location, I believe it's a village called Newton St. Loe.

In this photograph there is a lot going on and so decisions had to be taken as to what might be included and what might be the more interesting elements. The obvious place to start would be the cottage but I became a little more interested in the 'furniture' around the green. So I decided to crop the image and leave out extraneous things like the waste bin.

Newton St. Loe - Photograph

After taking the decision to crop it became a question of arranging the elements and I haven't moved far from the organisation in the photograph. I then made a couple of studies, one of which was in the previous post. Finally a larger piece of paper was broken out and the final piece completed. You can find Peter's version at www.watercolourfanatic.blogspot.com

Newton St. Loe - Watercolour on Not paper 16" x 12"

8 comments:

Ray Maclachlan Art said...

Very nice aspect taken, Mick. Have a slight problem with the black door, as it draws the eye away from the colourful garden. Maybe some dark accents on the left would cancel the door out. You are sure starting the year out on a high.

RH Carpenter said...

Nicely done and I like what you chose to left out, showing your thinking process about what is important. Hard to do at times when working from photographs that show it all. I think Ray is right about some dark accents to balance the door.

Peter Ward said...

I like the composition with the emphasis on the ornamental bowl. I don't actually know what that represents so will have to find out. I've never thought about handling the scene that way so it just shows...

Caroline Simmill said...

Hi Mick your painting is full of sunshine, it is the light and the lovely colours you are using that creates an almost spring like day. Great to see you painting again. Nice work, the tree is especially good.

Unknown said...

Ray - Thanks. Interesting point about the door. Now that you've mentioned it I find myself drawn there. A little judicious tinkering should cure the situation.

Unknown said...

Rhonda - Thanks for the kind words and the comment about the door. Editing the scene in front of you seems to me to be essential to make sense of the image that is envisaged. The modern world seems to fill every scene with distractions and it took me a while to realise that I could leave stuff out.

Unknown said...

Peter - That's the joy of this little exercise of ours, you never know how our individual pairs of eyes are going to see the scene.

Unknown said...

Caroline - Thanks a lot. I'm delighted if there is a feeling of light, that's my Holy Grail.