Repaint, A Large Hole, A Cat.

[bunn]

I took my Scottish scene along to art class, because something about the composition bugged me and I couldn't quite work out what it was.

Colin the Art suggested moving the figures left and making them slightly larger, so that they would be outlined against the  and the pier would draw the attention along to the skyline. And also that the figures should be wearing brown, not black, because that would 'bring them forward'. So I did that:

Version 1


Version 2 (colours on this one are closer, the camera wants it to be bluer and less green than it is.
I think Colin was right about the composition.


On Wednesday I went out to lunch with my Mum, and we found a tunnel we had never visited before, which is odd, because it runs very nearly under one of our favorite cafes.  It was originally built by Brunel as a railway tunnel and opened in 1859, and that's approaching the height of the mining boom, so I'm going to tag this as 'mining' on the grounds that no doubt it was the mines that made a railway up to Tavistock seem a good idea.

No railway to Tavistock any more though, so it has been left to moss, stalactites, and cyclists and walkers on the new Drake's Trail which runs into Plymouth along the old railway route.   When you stand at one end, the other end seems Very Far Away. There's a good echo, too.

And a lot of dripping and echoes inside... 

We have adopted our third cat!   After extremely long negotiations, she has been named Nenya.  Fankil, obviously, hissed at her, despite their closeness last time they saw each other... Cats!   She has retreated under the sofa for now, but she does seem like a friendly and confident girl. She's met Rosie, who behaved impeccably, and Gothmog, who was a little alarmed, but not for long. 

Comments

[alithea]

Ah yes, that composition is better, isn't it? Yay for art teachers :)

Glad Nenya is home, hope you soon have pictures of all three of them!

[bunn]

Definitely. At the moment there is cat settling in time, but I'm hoping it won't take too long for Nenya since she's pretty confident already.

[narya_flame]

Ooh, gorgeous! Would you prefer me to link to this version in the story?

Yay for new kitty, glad to hear she's settling in well.

[bunn]

I have sneakily swapped the Deviantart file for the new version, so it should be there already...

Alas, no Scatha kitty, we finally compromised on Nenya (Pp wanted Mewlip, but the Mewlips give me the willies, so I said NO.)

[bunn]

... huh. OK, apparently Deviantart doesn't work like that. I swapped the image, but the link still goes to the old file somehow. If you could swap to the newer version, that would be great!

[narya_flame]

All done :)

(I love them both, though. I just hope the Maglor-watches-LOTR scene lives up to your expectations!)

[keiliss]

The composition does work better but what I think really makes it is the addition of brown - it's an area of warmth in contrast to the sea.

[bunn]

You're right - that is part of why it works! I have great difficulty remembering all of these things, but I hope the red-brown = nearer thing is starting to stick.

[dhampyresa]

I love how you do the sea *o*

[bunn]

I upgraded my paints to the professional acrylic version, and it does seem to have made quite a difference.

[grundyscribbling]

The change in composition is striking, but unless the camera's really doing a number on the colors in the first version, I think the lighter palette in the second one makes a difference as well - the first one looks almost ominous. (I like the waves!)

From the outside, the tunnel looks interesting...but that inside photo makes it look somewhat like a horror film location!

How is Nenya settling in? (Has Fankil gotten over the hissing?)

[bunn]

I fear the camera has indeed done a number on the colouring : the background colours haven't changed at all, but the second photo I happened to be working on the file in daylight, so I could see the greens and reds and lightness that doesn't show up so well in artificial light, and tweaked the colour and brightness to match what daylight showed of the actual painting.

[independence1776]

Ooh, I like the second one! It's a definite improvement.

Good luck with the cats!

[bunn]

Thank you!

[elwinfortuna]

Love the sea in both pictures, but particularly the second one. And the lighter palette, plus moving them to the left, has definitely improved things. I like her face better in the first one, though.

[bunn]

Yes, I preferred the first face, but it's always a bit of a lottery when you are painting tiny faces smaller than a thumb, or it is for me, anyway. I do like the orientation of her head better now.

[ningloreth.livejournal.com]

I think I prefer everything about the second version of your painting -- the new placing of the figures, their new body language, which is more 'interactive' and really adds to the story, & I also like the way you've made the pier stronger and, especially, added the crashing waves.

I love the idea of you and your mother being tunnel-spotters... tunnel-twitchers :-)

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I thought it was finished and then... it was not finished! Oh well.

What's not to love about a mysterious tunnel?!

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

Love your painting. May your new cat bring you much happiness!

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

Fascinating, how such small changes can make such a difference to a composition...

I hope Nenya soon settles in.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Well, the cat-adoption didn't go perfectly, in that she managed to rip out all of her spay stitches, and had to go in to the vet today to be re-stitched. So far she has not managed to get her cone off again, and the stitches this time are internal dissolving ones, so hopefully things will go more smoothly from here on in!

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

Oh, no! Fingers crossed it goes more smoothly from here!

[chainmailmaiden]

Pleased to hear you've been able to take Nenya home, but sorry to hear about the incident with her stitches. Hope she leaves them alone this time!

Fankil's reaction is so typically cat :) Floss had a kitty friend years ago, they used to sit noses and paws pressed to the window - not in a banging and chasing way, but a love separated by a cruel divide way, and she would plead to be let out to see him. When we did finally let her out, she went like a bottle-brush and hissed and did the crab dance at him, while poor Jerry looked most bemused and rolled over in submission :D