Friday, February 14, 2014

Snowy Hillside (adjusted) and Stony Brook Grist Mill

I did redo the sky in "Snowy Hilltop" making it darker. Here is the before and after. It will have to stay as it is now...no more changes. lol I did go back in and darken the trees on top. I wish I could post them side by side but I can't figure out how to do that. I liked the original by I think the stronger color in the sky is much more dramatic. What do you think?

Before

After

This sketch was done of the front of the Stony Brook Grist Mill. Unfortunately the wheel is on the side of the house and there is absolutely no place to sit to sketch it, even if you are sketching from outside of the car. I was sitting inside the car. This was done directly in ink and then I applied the watercolors. (In the spring the overhang is covered in wisteria.



15 comments:

  1. This is a dilema! I really liked your original version and it still has a better sense of harmony but then again, the blue in the new version helps to set off the warm notes in the house and foreground. Ultimately, it's got to be down to personal taste. If pushed, I'd say your original instincts in the first one win the day for me, but that's just my personal opinion. They are both lovely pictures as is the sketch of the mill. To go straight in with ink with such a complex subject is brilliant! This has a lovely intimacy which is a characteristic of so much of your work. Delightful. Don't ever stop painting Joan!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like both versions Joan. It is nice to experiment with paint isn't it :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like both pix too. So I asked my hubby and he said the darker sky. I think the first one looks like a cold slowly day and the second one looks like a sunnier warmer day.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oops..that is cold SNOWY day.. Not slowly. Lol

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like both but think your first has a uniformed tone to it, the brighter blue sky would probably make the snow colours more blue too, just my thoughts, I know how frustrating it is to change something and then what next etc.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think I do like the stronger contrast of the re-do! I'm going to try that myself sometime ... it's an interesting exercise. Thanks for showing us the results, Joan!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I like the before and after! They before looks like a grey snow day and your focus is on the hill. The after looks like a beautiful crisp winters day. The sky created a different mood in each.You did a beautiful job recreating the hill with nice perspective. I love your sketch too!
    If you go to the Pickmonkey site and click on collage, you can upload both photos and see them side by side.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ooh, the gristmill is gorgeous, Joan!! I too like both pieces, the before and after...and kind of lean towards liking the paler sky a bit more.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow! What a difference darkening the sky made! I like this version best, but the before version was probably more like what the scene actually looked like, right?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ann - Thanks. It is fun to experiment a bit. I'm always afraid to change things after I do them. lol

    Cris - My thanks to you and your husband for your thoughts.

    Lorraine - Thanks. I added a few spots of the darker blue in the snow areas too.

    Sue - Thank you and thanks for visiting.

    Tina - I usually go with nearly the color of the actual sky when I work en plein air, but I do like the way the deeper color looks. Amazing how the feel of the painting is so different.

    Sherry - Thanks. Glad you like the gristmill too.

    Mickey - LOL The before was definitely more like it actually looked. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love the darker sky a bit more... The Stony Brook Grist Mill is a very good painting..all the details are awesome..!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Joan, How different the paintings are with a change in the sky. I like them both. The top one seems "colder" with the grayer sky. I like the gristmill too.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks, Hilda! I normally wouldn't try a sky that dark, but I like the look.

    Carol, thank you. The grayer sky does feel a little colder...maybe that's why the darker one is appealing to me right now. lol

    ReplyDelete
  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi, Joan - oops, too many typos the first time I tried to leave a comment! I can relate more to the first one with grey skies because in Oregon - at least in the Willamette Valley - a Snow Day almost always features gray skies, and usually rain within a few hours. The second one with the blue skies makes me think of Utah and I want to go sit in the bar at the ski lodge and sip an Irish Coffee!

    ReplyDelete