FOREST, EARLY SPRING MORING ACEO or ATC - iPad and Painting Give-Away - Day 17 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

FOREST, EARLY SPRING MORNING
ORIGINAL PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
2.5" x 3.5" ACEO OR ATC

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me. 

TO ENTER THE TWO GIVE-AWAYS USE BOTH BOXES AT THE END OF THIS BLOG
You must click and enter each Give-away separately because you are submitting for two different draws. Leaving a comment on this blog, tweeting, Like-ing on Facebook etc. does not enter you for the draw, you must come back to confirm what you did in the Give-away box to earn the points. The more points you accumulate until January 31st the more chances of winning. You can enter many times each day. 

Sometimes when I'm creating a painting from a challenge photo, I struggle because I see the other artist's work and think it is so awesome, that my painting looks insignificant. Often my painting sells in spite of this feeling, but when it doesn't, I'm left wondering what I could do to improve it. That was the case here. 

I quite like the composition, which cannot be changed anyway, when it's a challenge photo, but I never liked the predominance of warm blue. The problem with reflections is that if you already have too much of a colour in the subject, the reflection makes it completely overwhelming. I surmise that this is what happened here.

1. I added more icy lemon sunlight to the upper area.
2. Then some cool blues and reds to the trees.
3. I darkened the shadowy water with purple and indigo.
4. Added warm blue to the reflection of sky in the foreground. (As a rule one should paint warmer tones towards the front of a scene).
5. I dabbed some spots of reflected colour into the weeds in the foreground.
6. Finally I added my 2014 signature and voila!

I'm always trying to duplicate the beauty of soft pastels with acrylic, and I think I achieved it here.

If you love the painting, or any of my miniature ACEOs and would like a frame, I have a choice of eight different frames available. I would be happy to frame your painting free of charge., so all you pay for, is the painting, the frame and the shipping. Contact me for choices.


Cat # 13061 Forest, early spring morning