Friday, March 16, 2012

Art Talk

Tonight I went to a meeting of The Columbia River Art Group (it's an art discussion/critique group of oil painters). The painting above is the one I brought for evaluation. A suggestion was made that cropping out the pale sky would strengthen the painting. I dismissed the idea because cropping it would be a chore (it's painted on a canvas panel). I also wasn't totally convinced that a crop would help the painting. However! when I got home I cropped it in photoshop and now I think I agree, the crop is an improvement (?) (is it?)  Let me know what you think. :)


(Top Photo) Painting: Celeste Bergin, Oregon Coast, oil on 8x8 canvas panel (Bottom photo) revised to 8x6 canvas panel)

Posted by Celeste Bergin at 1:30 AM
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15 comments:

Dan Kent said...

Yep, I agree. Is it worth the chore? Dunno. Quite nice either way. Like the subject matter and all of the colors.

March 16, 2012 at 2:18 AM
CrimsonLeaves said...

I have to agree with Dan's comments myself. What a beautiful OR PNW Cannon Beach type of scene! Makes me long for the Pacific Ocean!

March 16, 2012 at 2:45 AM
Maritza said...

Precioso,Celeste! Mucha fuerza en tu pintura, sin duda. Estos óleos transmiten toda la soberanía y fuerza del mar, que me encanta...

Te felicito.

Abrazos!

March 16, 2012 at 2:50 AM
nouvelles couleurs - vienna atelier said...

I agree to dear Celeste, and the paints are good as always, you have a great inspiration a great motivation, this is very important and nice

March 16, 2012 at 3:11 AM
Mariano Zucchi said...

Hi Celeste,
nice colors, I agree crop it! Sometime less is more. You reionforce the attention to the main subject, rocks. Nice ether way.

March 16, 2012 at 3:13 AM
Libby Fife said...

Depends on what you want the focal point to be I guess. The second appeals to me because it highlights the rocks and water intersection but the long view at the top tells another great story too. Wadda ya wanna say???LOL!

March 16, 2012 at 4:07 AM
L.W.Roth, said...

I agree too. Nice coastal painting Celeste. I like to check out my paintings in Photoshop when they are in progress. You do get to assess the composition as well as the color values. I think it's a great tool.

March 16, 2012 at 5:33 AM
Jeanette said...

Eliminating the sky, really pulls the focus in on the rocks and sea. I did this with a previous painting I wasn't sure about and it transformed (and sold) it.

It does of course depend on your initial vision for the piece and if you want to paint more water. :)

March 16, 2012 at 6:44 AM
SamArtDog said...

I slid the post down past the blue in the sky but left the peach above the horizon. I like having the complement to balance the color of the water. Because you picked up that blue a bit on the rocks, cropping at the ocean left too much of that blue for me.

Opinions... everybody has one.

March 16, 2012 at 10:23 AM
Rachel Harvey said...

I like the feeling of distance in the uncropped one.

March 16, 2012 at 10:30 AM
Chris said...

more energy in the cropped version

March 16, 2012 at 7:33 PM
Carolyn Rondthaler said...

hate to admit it, but I like the cropped one better. The other one is nice, but the cropping pulls the horizon down and it seems just better. I don't know "how" you do it, though!

March 16, 2012 at 10:26 PM
Celeste Bergin said...

thanks for the comments and advice! Dan, Sherry, Maritza, laura, Mariano, Libby, LW, Jeanette, Sam, Rachel, Chris, and Carolyn! I appreciate it! :)

March 17, 2012 at 8:22 AM
Stinson Fine Art said...

go with the crop.

March 17, 2012 at 12:10 PM
Michael Lindstrom said...

Hey Celeste, the cropping does strengthen this painting. Thanks for sharing and thanks for your wonderful energy and insight!

March 21, 2012 at 9:11 PM

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