Hidden Valley - My 13th Painting

This was another of Tvpainter Michael Thompson's great tutorials. I followed along as Michael shared tips and techniques on his tutorial.
Michael, pass on a note of gratitude to your participating students. I found myself sighing along as I struggled to achieve what you do so effortlessly.

Painted with oils on 45cm x 60cm canvas.

Critique

I'm still struggling with layering of paints but I think I finally understand what is happening here. More on that with the next series as I attempt to fix my problems. In the meanwhile, if you can share some tips, please feel free to contact me here or offline. Some of the trees are still looking like a mess. I do like the blue of the lake and shore line as well as the foreground shrubs. What I like in this painting is that I can still see so much room for improvement and have some idea as to how/what I would do differently next time.

Lighthouse: Light of the World

With prayer there's often breakthrough. A couple of nights after the first painting in the series, i decided to revisit this theme. This time the picture is in a different light. A4 canvas sheet with Oils.

Critique

I feel this painting was the better of my skies and gradient/blending. I also feel it's probably my best clouds to date. I really like the way the little birds came out. The ship in the background could have sat a little lower in the water.

Dad

My dad is a strong proud man. This was my first portrait, it was painted on A4 canvas with oils.

Critique

It was nice trying to capture the look of my dad in a painting. There is a resemblance, but the clothing portrays more his personality than the way he normally dresses. I will definitely be painting more portraits in future but will need to study up on techniques and take some art classes before hand. The shading and colour tones are not too bad but they are a world away from what I saw in my minds eye.

Overall, my dad will get an Easter present I hope he enjoys.

Lighthouse - Light in the Darkness

Painting say something of the artist? Perhaps. I was under some stress the evening I painted this piece on A4 Canvas. I needed the light in the dark of a forth coming storm. This is the result after about 1 hours work. My first night scene and second sea scape.

Critique

There's a few things going on in the paintings dominated by the pending clouds. My first attempt at a beam of light, I suspect the technique may also work for sun ray. I like the waves crashing across the cliff face although technically they are not the greatest. You guessed it, this was also another good reason to practice my clouds. I like the lighthouse, I feel like i capture the shading to portray a 3d image.

Autumn Dreaming

This one was inspired by the pending Autumn coming down under and the changing leaves. The painting was done on 45x60 canvas using Monte Mart oil paints. The paints went down reasonably well and as a student, I found the paints to be suitable, at least for now, at nearly 1/12 the cost of student grade oils.

Critique

I like the tree on the left of screen, some nice highlights came through. IMO, the clouds keep getting better, and hopefully, they will look even better with more practice.

I'm finding myself lost when layering paints on top of background scrubs/tress. I think this will come down to paint consistency and thinning. The composition draws you to the middle of the painting. I didn't anticipate this as I was painting, and had to qujavascript:void(0)ickly improvise. In the end, I settle for something resembling a beach in the middle of frame. In hindsite, I could have turned this into a new little fishing shack.

Alien Sunset

This piece started out as another exercise at cloud formations. I also wanted to experiment with different shading so the next thing you know I had created an alien scene. The shadows over the lake are being cast by the different moon and one that is behind the viewer. The result is something not quite natural, intentionally so.

The Likes

Not much to really boast about here. I like the fact that the clouds are starting to look more like clouds. The grass on the right bank came out nicely unfortunately the detail is not caught on camera well.

The Dislikes
I wish I could have made the colours pop a little more. I could have also spent more time on the stars.

Painting on A4 Canvas Sheet

Old Shack - First Painting on Proper Canvas

So I went out and bought a few 45cm x 60cm canvas. Only cheap and I'll probably regret the choice but at least I'm painting on some larger areas and the feel and spring of canvas feel awesome. This one come straight out of my imagination and it's my favourite painting so far.

The Likes

The fact that it looks like a painting instead of a piece of paper :-) Nice to incorporate some of the things I've learnt and apply them from my mind to canvas.

The Dislikes

I tried a cloud again and failed miserably so I had to blend it out. Note to self: Must practice a piece with clouds only. Also some of the bushes ended up being a mess, may touch them up a bit once everything is dry.

Rough Seas - My 6th Painting

So it's the weekend and I thought I'd go out to sea, well at least in my head.

I thought I'd have a go at a water scene, boy what a challenge. I'm also thinking that some formal classes will really help,

The Likes

I really enjoyed the painting and can see that water scenes will appeal to me. Having said that, I think lots and lots of practice is warranted here. I also like the blues and turquoise colours I mixed.

The Dislikes

Not too many really, apart from it not looking realistic at all :-)

P.S This is the image that inspired this painting

Weeping

Having found some confidence with the black canvas technique, i tried again this time taking a little more care. Still using the A4 canvas sheets. Oil wet-on-wet techniques.

The Likes
I feel like it's an improvement over my last attempt. Unfortunately, the scan makes it look a lot darker than it is in real life. I like the highlights on the tree leaves and trunk.

The Dislikes
I must practice more cliff faces and waterfalls...

Not too bad for my 5th painting?

Black Canvase - Quick Test

This was a very quick test painting on a black canvas and my 4th ever painting.. Still using the A4 canvas sheets. The canvas was painted with black acrylics before starting the painting.

The Likes

Painting on a black canvas and experiencing the difference.

The Dislikes

I rushed this one, was not really interested in the results as I was about the feeling of a black canvas. Also found how difficult the waterfalls are going to be.

Mountain Lake

This is my third ever oil painting. It was obviously my first attempt at a lake and reflections, also my first attempt at snow covered mountains. This time the painting came from my head but obviously inspired by the likes of Bob Ross and Will Alexander.

The Likes

I enjoyed painting the lakes and got some experience working with a palette knife.

The Dislikes

The mountain is suspended LOL... I could have worked the mist into the trees a little better and have it look more like a photo. I also don't like the shore line, could have added more highlighting and contrast.

The Fishing Hole.. Second Attempt

After having finished my first painting, I decided to do another painting of the same scene. This time I didn't follow along and tried to see how many of the techniques I could remember.

The Likes

That I didn't manage to forget everything I saw. My cloud is a little better but could do with some major improvements.

The Dislikes


I don't think I succeeded in creating variety in the foliage, maybe more attention to highlights are required.