A Lesson In Contrast

 

A Lesson In Contrast

4x6" oil on canvas panel.

I'm not selling this one, but if you want it you can have it. Let me know.

 

This one I tossed on the "failure" pile. Lots of artists paint over their failed paintings or wipe them right after they're finished with them. I prefer to keep them around for a bit because it always takes me a few days to figure out all the things I did wrong.

Here it's mostly a case of depth and contrast. The idea was to show some distant, partially snow-covered mountains, with a forest and field in the foreground. The forest is the only bit that kind of worked out, I'm happy with the subtle differences in value and color. The field is too flat, and the mountains are just a strange mosaic of orange, white and dark blue. It just never came together.

Some small focal points in the foreground would've helped with the flatness, and the mountains need to be pushed much further back. Lower the contrast, lower the saturation, clarify overlapping shapes.

Better next time!