This is for Daily Paintworks Sept 2011 four value challenge. It's oil on 12x16 canvas panel.
The Daily Paintworks actually has some good challenges, and this is my second submission. This four value challeng was interesting because we were basically restricted to using 4 basic values and forced to simplfy what we saw. I was looking for something that would look interesting in a black and white, and remembered this picture we took a few years ago at Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan. The boats and dock were supposedly used by Chiang Kai-Shek decades ago. The picture I thought was beautiful in color and would be very nice in black and white, so I decided to use this.
The four values are: 1. lightest grey: sky and sky reflection, dock, 2. medium grey, far mountains and mountain reflections, 3. dark grey, near mountain and reflection, boat reflections, roof of boats, 4. very dark grey (cobalt blue + burnt umber), boat, side of dock and lantern posts. It was hard painting this photo with just four color, and I cheated a little. For example, for the far mountains, if they were just one solid color, they would lack definition. So I added in a little line of lightest grey and did some blending. I also added a pop of color for the lanterns, just to make the painting a little more interesting.
The four values are: 1. lightest grey: sky and sky reflection, dock, 2. medium grey, far mountains and mountain reflections, 3. dark grey, near mountain and reflection, boat reflections, roof of boats, 4. very dark grey (cobalt blue + burnt umber), boat, side of dock and lantern posts. It was hard painting this photo with just four color, and I cheated a little. For example, for the far mountains, if they were just one solid color, they would lack definition. So I added in a little line of lightest grey and did some blending. I also added a pop of color for the lanterns, just to make the painting a little more interesting.
You did an excellent job with this very tough challenge. I agree that DPW challenges are very good at making us stretch ourselves as artists! And I love the little pop of color you did with the lanterns!
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