Last Light

Teacher Painting

"Last Light" 12x12" Acrylic on Canvas by Richard Robinson.

Teacher Painting

"Last Light" 14x14" Oil on Canvas by Richard Robinson.

Teacher Painting

"Last Light" 14x14" Oil on Canvas by Richard Robinson.

Resource

Resource

Student Painting

"The Sounds of Silence" by Cristina Mihailescu

Quite an impressionistic take on this scene Cristina with lots of lively brushwork. There's a problem with the drawing of the triangular grassy patch which has become over simplified now and could do with a much larger and more broken edge as it comes towards us. Dabbing bright green on that area doesn't give a convincing impression of light - better to use thin horizontal strips of light to lend it some perspective. Your trees look like they're crouching a bit to stay in the frame - better to not have them 'kissing' the top edge - just run them clearly out of the top as if there were another third of them outside the canvas. Make sure distant horizons are flat and horizontal - any small variation seen in this from a distance means something big is happening over there, so you've got to be careful - I even use a ruler sometimes. Check the drawing of your trees too - you can see more of the front ends of them in the photo with much more foreshortening than what you've drawn here. Overall it's a nice strong image that could do with a few tweaks.

Student Painting

"Autumn's Last Light" 11x14 Oil on Canvas by Laurena Beirnes

That's getting there Laurena. Nice work with your colours - you've created a strong light effect with subtle transitions between light and shade areas which is not an easy thing to do. Only problem is you've smoothed your brushwork a lot and over-simplified the design, making lines too regular and losing much of the interest you might have had. The sky for instance could have more colour variation, the grass could use a few vertical strokes to break up the surface, as could the foreground sand. In short, if you use more paint, larger and more aggressive brushwork without second guessing each stroke you'll have a much more exciting painting. It'd be great for you to do this painting again with that in mind. Make sure you get the drawing right to start with though. Good luck!

Student Painting

"Sunday on the River" 11x14" Oil on Canvas by Lisa Bower

Great to see you making something different with this scene Lisa. You've managed to make a real glowing light in the foliage on the far bank by keeping homogenous colours over there. The reflections of those are working well in the eater too although I encourage you to use more vertical strokes in still water reflections then brush over them with horizontal sky reflections. That's a nice subtle shadow across the foreground you've made and a good spotlight effect in the centre of interest and a classic S-curve lead in. The figures are a good size for their position which is always a tricky thing to get right. It'd be better to lift that right rod a little so it's not in line with the far bank. A very peaceful scene.

Student Painting

"A Gentle Light" 10x12" Acrylic on Canvas by Sarah Bottjer

Hi Sarah this is an interesting take on this scene. I'm not sure if the over simplification of the lines of the beach was intentional or not but it does make an interesting design. Unfortunately the two points of the beach formed by the longest lines seem a bit odd like there's a piece missing. I have a sense that you feel the need to see every item clearly in your painting but let me encourage you to explore using more mystery in your painting. If you using more lost edges and fewer lines in your work you'll see a marked improvement. For instance you don't need to draw every branch in the trees on the left - you could obscure them in a soft haze of foliage. You've also made lines of the shadow sides of your logs instead of the interesting broken shapes that they really are. That's your challenge for the next one!

Student Painting

"Workshop36" Oil on Canvas by Karlo Bonacic

Nice one Karlo - you've done well with the greys although it's got a little muddy in places where you could have used more colour in your greys like in the sky and at the base of the bushes on the left. It's a fine line between rich greys and mud. You're brushwork is really very good with loads of variety, if a little uncertain in some places. The drawing is very good too, all except the horizon line with is running into the baseline of the main trees - it should be a little higher to avoid that connection. Overall very well done.