In a previous post, I discussed my requirements for working in a series. Does my theme have enough visual potential to carry me through 10, 15, or more paintings? And will it hold my interest for that long?
Azure & Asphalt is a series that I’ve been working on for over 10 years. There are currently 20 paintings in the series, with another 10 having sold. There are also several paintings that I pulled from the collection or decided to do over — which is one of the challenges of working on a series for so long. As the series evolves, I also evolve. I get better at resolving the particular challenges the series poses, in terms of color and composition. Sometimes I look at a painting I did several years ago and consider how I would handle it differently now.
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The first version of Salmon Bay works on many levels. It is deeply atmospheric with very unified color. The subtle value shifts I used to suggest the details in the foreground buildings and background trees are well controlled. There is also a good balance between detail and foundational shapes; meaning, I’ve included enough details to make it clear to the viewer that it is an urban landscape, but not so many that is distracts from my primary interest, which is the simplified abstract composition and the unified atmosphere.
However, I suspected that if I were to do the painting again, I would approach things differently. For starters, I would try a different color for the water on the right. The cool (nickel titanate) yellow feels too yellow, too acidic. In combination with the blue land masses, it gives the scene an overly somber tone. The overall color is very unified, with just two color groups (yellow and blue), but I wondered if I could stretch my palette to include a wider range of color. I also thought I could suggest a deeper space if I adjusted the visual weight of the foreground and background land masses.
The newer version makes several changes in color and composition.
Color changes
The color range has been expanded. The painting is still fairly analogous, and as a result projects a very unfied light, but now there are touches of yellow in the upper right, red-violet in the center building, different temperatures of blue, and hints of green in the trees.
I’ve always held that for a color to be read as a color, it could not be too light, otherwise it would just read as a light value or white. (See The Affect of Value on Color Identity.) Now I wanted to see if trying that could be an effective way of suggesting light. The water on the right is now very light, nearly white, with only the tiniest hint of color. This does a good job of suggesting the brilliance and glare of reflected sunlight on water.
Composition changes
Simple notan thumbnails show how changing the visual weight of the land masses changes the reading of the space. In the first version (top), the foreground buildings at the bottom take up less space (height) than the background shore, which feels top-heavy. If suggesting depth is a goal, that is the reverse of how it ought to be. In the new version (bottom), the foreground mass takes up much more real estate, and therefore feels closer. The background shore is a smaller mass (less height), which helps it sit farther back in space.
Older paintings are a snapshot of our evolution at given time. It’s only natural that we will look back at our older work and consider new and different ways of approaching the same subject. If we didn’t do that, it would mean that we weren’t becoming better painters.
Also from the Azure & Asphalt series
See all the paintings from the Azure & Asphalt series.
12 Comments
I love this post. Excellent! It makes me want to try a series. Thanks Mitch …
Glad you liked it, Laurie. Do check out the other post I referenced in that article, about working in series. It may give you some good pointers 🙂
I still like the first version. The red building in the front doesn’t add as takes away from the color balance of the earlier one. Composition change for bigger foreground works better by emphasizing the foreground and pushing back the background. The magic about your series is the tight color ranges and glow and too much variation in color takes away from that. My two cents.
Mitch, thanks for sharing another dramatic demonstration of your composition and painting mastery. Thanks also for demonstrating so clearly that you didn’t change the size of Salmon Bay. It took some study for me to credit that and to move on to the add to the bottom of the brick building without changing width and in apparent preservation of the visual distance.one painting to the other. And the aspect ratios of the paintings are also the same.
But to me the subject has shifted dramatically from Salmon Bay for which I have fondness to the brick building for which I don’t. To me this is a powerful demonstration of the significance of color choices. I hope we will get to see the brick building in some other colors. But I am aware that the conditions in which I am viewing the second image, including IPad color distortions to red, are likely making the red redder than you experience in first hand viewing. Irrespective of the lighting the new painting is extremely well done. Congratulations.
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Mitch, thanks for sharing another dramatic demonstration of your composition and painting mastery. Thanks also for demonstrating so clearly that you didn’t change the size of Salmon Bay. It took some study for me to credit that and to move on to the add to the bottom of the brick building without changing width and in apparent preservation of the visual distance.one painting to the other. And the aspect ratios of the paintings are also the same.
But to me the subject has shifted dramatically from Salmon Bay for which I have fondness to the brick building for which I don’t. To me this is a powerful demonstration of the significance of color choices. I hope we will get to see the brick building in some other colors. But I am aware that the conditions in which I am viewing the second image, including IPad color distortions to red, are likely making the red redder than you experience in first hand viewing. Irrespective of the lighting the new painting is extremely well done. Congratulations.
Thanks Gerry for you astute observations.You’re right, the first version probably brings out Salmon Bay more than the second version. I know that the building is noticeably red, but that was part of my intention for the painting, to break away from a rigid analogous harmony.
Hi Stan, thanks for weighing in. Your preference for the first version tells me that it is still working quite well. Each piece had different goals.
Hi Mitch, Thanks for sharing your thought process and notan in the reworking of this piece. The light/white in the water to the right really gives me a feeling of the place with the reflection of light.
The notan reveals that in the original composition the painting is divided almost in half, so the adjustments you made–giving more space to the foreground–adds energy overall. I like the cooler color you used for the water on the right. It sparkles and reads “water”. The little spot of yellow in the upper corner is brilliant. Not sure how intense the red brick color is, but on my monitor I would like to see it more subdued to harmonize with the painting. Knowing how sensitive you are to color, it probably works in person.
Thanks for the additional comments, Mira. That red building has certainly raised some questions!
Thanks, Judy. Yes, the consensus on the light/white on the water has been positive overall. It’s a good lesson for me. White can work!
Thanks for the sharp observations, Mira. Honestly, I think about composition more than just about anything else when I’m doing a painting! 🙂