Mea's Struggle in the Shadows

[MaryAnne Long]

Today I worked with one of my kupuna students studying cast shadows. I'm not quite there yet, but getting close. I used some old 1982 watercolor paints. They still work really well even though they are as hard as a rock.

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aloha

mea

[Bill76434]

You certainly are tenacious with all your projects Mea. If you give a "base" to the balls I think it will make a huge difference.

[MaryAnne Long]

Thanks, Bill.  Not sure what you mean by "base."

aloha

mea

[MaryAnne Long]

My cast shadows remain a big problem for me. Really enjoyed doing this, though.

I decided to do a pear study and my cast shadows bothered me.  I started with a simple freehand pencil drawing (not pictured). Then painted four-panels (3 on 140 lb. watercolor paper with a canvas panel glued on for the oil painting). I used mostly old cheap paints - vermilion red, veridian green, and yellow ochre. Top row is water-soluable graphite on left and watercolor on right. Bottom row is acryllc on left and oil on right.

All advice appreciated.

Details

Thanks to Nolan for finding out why this photo wasn't posting yesterday.  Seems that the English teacher in me put commas between the colors.  That's a no-no in naming a photo file.  Lesson learned.  No file name with no commas (special characters) now.

aloha
mea

[liz]

  I like the shapes of the pears; good work with blending colors! All of your practicing with drawing and painting in different medium is really moving your art up notches! If the paints are pliable you can do miraculous things with them. ~Liz

[linley.plester]

Somehow missed this till now...I'll blame the website upgrade. Really impressed by seeing your pears in 4 mediums. Did you do them in the order of graphite, watercolour, oil? Because the oil pear is just luscious.... Is it the oil medium or the practice that made the improvement?

[MaryAnne Long]

Thanks, Linley.  Bottom right is oil on canvas paper.  I actually did it BEFORE the other three,  It's the oil paint that made it look better.

aloha

mea

[Happychappy]

    Excellent practice Mea especially with different mediums.  Great job.   Patricia

[njnjgirl]

Excellent job on the pears.  Look great.

[Zilpa]

The pears are great Mea. I also like the balls, but I keep thinking that they want to roll away to the left. I think maybe that has a clue to what Bill meant by not having a base.It seems to me like the cast shadow is too high up on the right. I could be wrong it is how I see it.

[linley.plester]

Regarding your pretty little balls... I wondered if Bill meant that they need to be seen to sit on a surface for the shadows to look appropriate. Try drawing a line behind them midways to indicate a table or bench, or maybe paint in a background. Otherwise they look as if they are suspended in mid air and then the shadows probably wouldn't be in the right place if you see what I mean?

[MaryAnne Long]

Yes, Linley, I see that now.  Gotta try that exercise again using real balls on a real surface.

aloha

mea