@JulieHenze.

I have been painting for about a year now and am always on a new learning curve. Your time zone is several hours ahead of me so I am not exactly finished with some of the finer details. I have some more shadowing to do. I love this class and am enjoying the process. Any suggestions are always welcome so I can improve my techniques.

I was trying to make the wall look old and worn. I like the blotchy areas as I felt that was showing the idea of being worn. I like texture so I am drawn to the worn places in the stone and the shutters. I am working on adding in the more violet shadows but I want the painting to really dry more so I can get fine details. Each layer of shadowing really adds depth to the shutters and windows. I am so excited to see what a difference these little shadows make. I will continue a bit slower with these final details to get the image to pop.

I have some photos of the beginning steps.

Shuttered Window - image 1 - student project

Shuttered Window - image 2 - student project

Shuttered Window - image 3 - student project

1-20-22- Update. I have been practicing perspective drawing and shadow work and am seeing some marked improvement.

Shuttered Window - image 4 - student project

Shuttered Window - image 5 - student project

1-12-2022-Update

I have been practicing the color washes. First off, I thought a round brush would make the color washes easier to do but this first sheet is horrible! I am sure glad it is only practice. No doubt due to technique but also, I think the low-grade brushes had a lot to do with my trouble. I found that they do not hold much water so the paint was pretty dry on the page before I could add the next color. Ha, now I see that I also missed adding a shadow. At any rate, here is my mistake page. As Julia says, better to make a mistake now instead of on an artwork. I agree!

Shuttered Window - image 6 - student project

Quality round brushes are on my wish list, but in the meantime, I went back to my nice pointy brushes that hold so much more water making it easier to move the paint. I had much better results. I was excited to work on these practice pieces. The shutter reflection was supposed to have a window cross piece to make a shadow under, but I forgot to add it. Then, I forgot to add Payne's grey to the reflected shutter, as well as lightening the intensity of the paint. Even with those errors, I was really excited to paint the shutter and see the color mix with the color layer below giving the top of the shutter a glow in the sunlight. So very exciting!

Shuttered Window - image 7 - student project

Update 1-25-2022

Voila! Did I get it? Maybe not perfectly but there is such an enormous change from my unfinished original. I am very excited about this major step in my painting journey.

I have learned so many things along the way. Making a bold, dark shadow was a tremendous step for me. The more I worked on the shadows, the more dramatic the painting became. It certainly came to life.

Note: I did not change the wall color or add to it in any way but the finished painting photo was taken in a different light set up, which makes it look different than the first painting.

I am so grateful for all your critiques Julia as they have really helped me develop better painting techniques. What is your profound critique for me this time? I'm very anxious to see my painting through your eyes.

Here is my painting BEFORE curtain folds and shadows were added.

Shuttered Window - image 8 - student project

Here is my painting NOW! Wow! Amazing difference. I am so proud of my progress.

Shuttered Window - image 9 - student project

Thank you for looking at my project and any comments that are left.

Lurline Gatling

Exploring all things art

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