Pay off skies
Monday here in New Zealand and another blog post.
This painting is called "Summer Storm" sized 8x10 and painted a few months ago.
I feel that every painting that I do should have what I call a "pay off sky". By that I mean the sky should contribute strongly to the emotion and impact of the painting, not just serve as a backdrop to the trees and other landscape elements.
I like lots of color in my skies as well and I've noticed that Hollywood does these days also. I've noted many movies that have almost exclusively used twilight light skies in their outdoor scenes. Movies like the Narnia Chronicles and Avengers come to mind but they're everywhere once you start paying attention.
One of the great, great things I love about New Zealand is the clean air and beautiful skies we have here. I never tire of looking up and noting the differentiated clouds and patterns of our southern skies.
This painting is in the 8x10 format. Until recently I eschewed these proportions but I've since embraced 8x10, 11x14, 9x12 as well as square formats. I will definitely write a post in the future about the different proportions and their relative impact. For now I'll say that different proportions really change the feel of a scene. Below is my 5x7 sketch for "Summer Storm"
A different feel for sure and far more panoramic. But more goes on in the change that is quite mysterious. The space containing the scene is one of the most important elements of any scene. Like I said though, this a topic for another blog, another day.
This painting is called "Summer Storm" sized 8x10 and painted a few months ago.
I feel that every painting that I do should have what I call a "pay off sky". By that I mean the sky should contribute strongly to the emotion and impact of the painting, not just serve as a backdrop to the trees and other landscape elements.
I like lots of color in my skies as well and I've noticed that Hollywood does these days also. I've noted many movies that have almost exclusively used twilight light skies in their outdoor scenes. Movies like the Narnia Chronicles and Avengers come to mind but they're everywhere once you start paying attention.
One of the great, great things I love about New Zealand is the clean air and beautiful skies we have here. I never tire of looking up and noting the differentiated clouds and patterns of our southern skies.
 |
| Summer Storm M Francis McCarthy |
This painting is in the 8x10 format. Until recently I eschewed these proportions but I've since embraced 8x10, 11x14, 9x12 as well as square formats. I will definitely write a post in the future about the different proportions and their relative impact. For now I'll say that different proportions really change the feel of a scene. Below is my 5x7 sketch for "Summer Storm"
 |
| Summer Storm (Sketch) M Francis McCarthy |
A different feel for sure and far more panoramic. But more goes on in the change that is quite mysterious. The space containing the scene is one of the most important elements of any scene. Like I said though, this a topic for another blog, another day.