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Christa-S-Nelson — Ghost Herd
Published: 2012-02-09 23:57:13 +0000 UTC; Views: 977; Favourites: 44; Downloads: 3
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Description
this is all watercolori want to make another piece with the same horse but with more horses around it
I took two pictures of this scene, one with this horse looking at me and another of it walking away which i think would be an iteresting yet subtle compromise. In both pictures there are 11 more horses around it.
so tell me your thoughts, ask me questions. i need to hear constructive criticism!
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Comments: 29
thank you! the place where I took the reference photo is gorgeous, there are buffalo and elk herds just up the road.
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I really like this. It has a very lonely feel to it. Good job with the lighting, especially on the horse!
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thank you!! i had to be really quick and simple with the horse because of how absolutely tiny he is lol im happy with the way he turned out
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I didn't realise this was watercolour until I read your artist's comments. The rich, deep colours are just fantastic, particularly the grass and the plains. The sky is nicely broken up by the clouds, yet the ground feels quite empty and bare. I don't know if that's what you're going for, and the lone horse looking back at the camera is a nice touch. I just wonder if some more horses, or continuing the trees onto the plain (like you did on the right hand side) would help to break up some of the open space.
I hope that doesn't come across as too negative, because this picture is beautiful as it is and these suggestions are minor tweaks at best. Plus, I have a lot of respect for anyone who can paint this well with watercolours!
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i agree! it needs more in the foreground. i want to go back in and finish this soon but for now i have no time lol
and thank you very much!!
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Fabulous~ great colour palette, and the horse is spot on!
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thank you very much!!
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This is lovely and I think some of the advice given, from a technical point of view, is accurate, but you know, I love it just the way it is ... the atmosphere, the isolated feel and it just works for me .... beautiful!
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aws thank you very much!! i still have a few more elements that I want to add. This is kind of an ongoing peice lol
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awesome, i like this kind of scenery
love how subtle the grass is, the horse is very well done for something so tiny
but, the trees in the background look like a long line. i think u pulled it off at the right side tho
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I agree, the trees do need a bit of fixing, the reference looked just like that though haha but for the sake of art (
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*reads previous comments* Why do people usually feel they need to be able to do better in order to critique something?
Over-all. Things look excellent rendering wise! I really have no complaints. The light/dark on the horse is very eye catching, and reads fantastically. Those clouds are gorgeously done, and those silhouetted trees are awesome.
Composition wise - everything is reading pretty flat. Break your elements into simple abstract shapes really quick. Do a thumbnail, or a mental one if you can. The sky is essentially a square, the tree line is essentially a line, and the bottom planes are essentially another square. There is a SLIGHT diagonal - but that could be pushed. I really suggest including some foreground element, you'll increase the depth you'll have with the image by a TON.
Introduce over lapping. The silhouette trees do so a bit, but some other land form. Give us an illusion of depth.
Watch your staging with the horse. He's much too close to the bottom of the canvas. Try to stick with the 3rds-rule focal point. He's your focal point - right? Try to make elements of this image guide your audience to him. Don't have a sky because you need a sky - direct the clouds to guide our eyes to the figure. Differentiate the values (Unrealistically if you have to) to make us look at what we should be looking at. Introduce a foreground element to help frame what's important. Maybe a rock/more trees in the foreground.
Everything reads well and is clearly depicted - but your sense of story-telling and staging is lost. I feel this is due to using a reference. References are good - but use them as a bit of a truth, or guide - more so to the details and what not. ALWAYS exaggerate a taken image. Unless you staged this scene - you probably aren't going to get a satisfying composition. Nature is nicely composed from certain angles, but unless you're looking for it - it'll be tough to get lucky.
Hope all that helps out a bit. Lemme know if you have any questions!
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wow haha i dont think i have ever had a better critique!!! this helps so much thank you!! its a good thing this is watercolor lol otherwise id have a bit of trouble changing what i want
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If it's not for class or whatever - don't change it. Just keep all those elements in mind for your next piece. Keep THAT piece around as an example! That's what I do with all of my pieces xD
Glad I can help though ^-^
Think I might be able to use this critique/piece in a write-up tutorial thing/rant I'm doing eventually? It's just a lot of words aimed at aspiring young artists to try to be more artistic and fully aware of all the decisions they're making on a canvas. I have a section where I describe what things to look out for in the visual narrative, aaaaand yeah - I figure there's no real rules in critiquing, maybe an example would describe it best xD Yay/nay?
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Yay!
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I haven't worked much with water color so I can't give to much of a critique. The sky and trees look great. The sloping hill and distant grass look really good too. The only thing that I might change is the vertical marks you made in the grass, it is so far away that you wouldn't be able to actually see individual blades of grass like that. The horse could use a little more detail but not to much more or it will unbalance the picture.
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thank you! although, its not really grass, its tall *wheat* grass, i dont really know what its called, but it really is about that tall in the original picture. the ones farther away do need to be smaller though i agree. i'm going to put in more of the grass strokes around the horse so the proportion is more understandable. and i agree, the horse needs more detail
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I wish I could critique, but it's impossible. I wish I could paint like this. 
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lol well thank you!!
id like to get more details on the horse too, its hard because this is smaller than you think lol
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