That Niggly Feeling - somethings not right!

Ever had a painting that you know there is something not quite right with it?  I have been posting my WIP of a landscape and talking about the progress that I am making, albeit really slowly. ( it's on FaceBook Karol Oakley Artist and Instagram @KarolOakleyArtist)

Today I had a another look and there is the niggling little something that says its okay but…..

So how do we deal with this sort of thing?

• Sometimes asking a painting friend is a good, an honest discussion about the WIP can help both painters. If this sort of thing isn’t available for goodness sake don’t ask a relative, spouse or non painting friend as they will love what you do anyway and not give you the feedback to fix that niggle of doubt. We love em but….
• Take your WIP to the art group you're in and ask for a critique.  This one is fraught with angst for the feint hearted. It's usually public and all you want is a simple straightforward answer. If you don’t mind sharing the result with the group, which can be good for all, then yes do  this.

Most of the time we are on our own when painting.  We want an answer now.

Deal with it now by going back to basics.  Question your way through the basics until you find the problem.  This sort of conversation with myself goes something like this…….

• "Okay what about the composition? Is the painting balanced? Are the elements in the right space, does it flow?" Ask all the questions you know about composition as if you're asking a friend.
• What about tone?  Here is the biggy.  I’ll go out on a limb and say that most times the niggly, not quite right something will be tone.
•  So how is the colour working(or not)? Is it too bright too dull, too hot  or too cool?

And so the questioning goes on. I’m going to stop here as it is usually about tone so let's talk about that.

The basics of painting read like this for me. Composition is conception, Drawing is the bones of a painting, Tone is the muscle, Colour is the skin and Edges are the age lines, while Temperature is the mood. This is how I think of a painting and the parts that make it work.  If one of these is not doing its job then it flows on to the other parts and lets down the whole.

Tone
My WIP has a problem and through this line of questioning the basics, I got as far as tone. I  stood back and checked my reference, but more importantly checked my information on the thumbnail I did on site.
I found my problem.  The tone was just not quite dark enough in the foreground. Do you do thumbnail sketches on site to get the composition and the tones sorted?

Most times it is something subtle the will niggle at you. Go through  the question and answer scenario, use this analogy to help find your answer, then make the adjustment.

Learning about tone is so important to a painter. Imagine if Leonardo didn’t know about tone when he painted the Mona Lisa she’d be flat faced cartoon. Make tone work for you, use it to show form, to show distance, understand how it works with the other parts like colour.  

The solution in my WIP was to go back and darken the tone in the foreground colours. It worked, and now that niggly feeling has gone. It may still need some more fine tuning and I will continue to question my way through all the basics, find the answer and try it out, see what happens if. 

I sincerely hope that helps you in your painting adventure.  

If and when you would like to do a detailed course on Tone in Art I have written one with interactive  and a step by step guides. You will find it at  www.onlinepastellearning.com

Tthe after shot. Notice the tone is darker on the bottom of the painting now.

The before shot. All the tone of the grasses look similar, there is no tonal change as the painting comes forward as shown on the original thumbnail sketch.