Halfway There

[artman]

Making Progress number three completed, this one is in Gouache so I suppose it's a sort of watercolour.



Based on a photo I took On the Watercress Line a couple of months back, not sure about the foreground, I may rework that later, going to have a ponder.

[robK]

I like the softer contrast you're getting with gouache it's more appealing than the acrylics. The tilt of the train bothers me a bit though maybe it comes from a slightly tilted camera angle.

You seem to be working under pressure to meet exhibition deadlines. Speaking personally I hate that kind of pressure. I can't quickly churn out stuff from photographs.

I use a lot of different photographic references when I compose bird paintings. Very often backgrounds are made up or I use photographs taken in a different context. The paintings take a long time to research and compose but they give greater satisfaction.

So I have to give myself time. For instance I'm working on ideas for paintings that I'm not planning to show until next year. We've all got different ways of working I guess.

[Dorothy]

and its coming along nicely

[Helen El]

A winner to me Ken.

[uncertain]

Hello Ken,
another subject which you have painted many times.
I agree with Rob...something slightly odd is happening between the tender and the front of the engine. The front wheels don't seem to have enough space between them...the track is too narrow???? But, as you have framed it already you must be happy with it.
Gouache I like...have you tried egg tempera for detailed paintings like this?
Sarah

[Julia]

Looks very professional to me.

[JMG]

Another well executed painting Ken. Perhaps lose the bushes in the foreground as they do act as a slight distraction, but think I'm being overly fussy in truth.

[robK]

Not wishing in any way to prejudice potential buyers of Ken's carefully worked painting I want to make a further point about the pitfalls which can arise from using photographs.

It's inevitable if you are shooting a fast moving object like a steam train that distortions will arise due to several causes most common probably due to camera angle or slight lack of focus. I've fallen into a similar trap by slavish reliance on a photograph. You can spend hours on a carefully worked painting not noticing a basic error of perspective until it is too late.

You just have to keep your fingers crossed that nobody else will spot the error when you show the painting.

[john hoffman]

Nicely painted and a sure sale. But as mentioned there are always pitfalls to photographs and I have fallen to them many a time.