Pages

▼

Thursday 14 July 2011

Evening Descends

Evening Descends
acrylic on paper 25x17cm
©2011 Lisa Le Quelenec
I've tried but failed miserably to capture the colours in the photograph of this painting. In truth the whites are not so white and the dark in the top of the sky isn't quite so dark. Oh and in the painting the horizon is straight...( I really need to work on my camera skills).

My aim was to get the magical clean blue the sky is at this time of day. I think I've got very close using azure and indanthrene mixes on top of a parchment base. There may be a new moon painting in the not too distant future...
at

6 comments:

  1. Unknown14 July 2011 at 19:45

    I struggle with my photos of paintings too. For some strange reason, the cheaper camera gets the colours a little truer than a more expensive one. For A4 and smaller I use a scanner and that seems ok colour wise. Nethertheless, this is a beautiful painting and really captures that magical last few moments of daylight. I absolutely must get some Indanthrene watercolour, it's gorgeous :O)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jeanette Jobson15 July 2011 at 12:31

    I thought this was a photo at first. The colours are beautiful and give that great light that happens only at twilight.

    Its an experiment to get colours true to what we want them to be and I think blues can be difficult sometimes. I'm constantly looking for the right mix or colour for water and skies and it can be elusive.

    I did buy some indanthrene acrylic and do like the depth it gives.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous15 July 2011 at 16:01

    Liza, this is quite spectacular! Do you gesso your paper first? I really like gessoed 600gm HP paper, it has less divot texture than cp or rough and you can leave some of the brushstrokes in the gesso just like when you prime mdf. Di you see the moon last night? It was huge down here in Somerset. I think a moon painting would be really nice. Just by the by…. I use a large format scanner (GT20000) from Epson…12x17inch scanning area…but then I paint quite small, and straighten correct in PS.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lisa Le Quelenec15 July 2011 at 17:44

    Hi Michael, thank you for your kind comments. My camera is pretty old and probably wants replacing. I've tried using a scanner but I don't seem to have much success with that either. I think it's just me and technology :o/ Indanthrene in watercolour is like a scrumptious blue velvet and if you wanted to try it I think the closest to azure would be manganese blue.

    Hi Jeanette, thanks. I think it's the elusiveness of 'that' constantly changing blue that will keep me painting forever.

    Hi Maggie, I rarely gesso paper. Instead I put down a neutral base coat before I start painting to stop the colours sinking and the paper being so thirsty. Sometimes I brush it on leaving the strokes to show through but others I use a printing roller to keep it really flat. I always use gesso on MDF but then put a base colour on top.

    The moon was gorgeous wasn't it. The day before there was a bit of cloud here and it was peeping through and making lovely highlights. I'll be keeping an eye out the window tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Caroline Simmill20 July 2011 at 00:53

    Sorry I missed this wee gem Lisa, lovely painting that depicts the evening coming in.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lisa Le Quelenec20 July 2011 at 17:36

    Thank you Caroline.

    ReplyDelete