May 2010 ADNW Painting Challenge
May 2010 Painting Challenge Photo
Well here it is, the May painting challenge reference photo. I tried to offer enough content in this still life arrangement so you can opt to take all or part of the image for your paintings. Just think of it as the potential for smaller compositions within the entire composition. The full dynamic range of colors and values are here for your painting pleasure and I have made the click/download files bigger (200o pixels wide) so you can crop to your preference. Pay particular attention to the warm and cool sides of the objects. This picture is full of them. Note how the lemon reflection in the pot is more orange due to the influence of the copper. Also, I love how the right side of the basket is showing the reflected light of the copper next to it. Look for the bloom on the cork and how it influences the edge characteristics against the lid of the box. And finally, notice how the shadows of the lemon and pot, among others, become less dense and have softer edges as they move away from the object. Is this fun or what!
I have also decided to provide a digitally simplified version for those that need a little help cutting through the detail. You will need to look at the larger version to see the simplification more clearly. Think of this as only as a guide to begin your own simplification process. Selectively simplifying a scene is essential to a beautiful artistic impression. The computer does a nice job of starting the process but we as artists should make the final decisions. Painting is a great puzzle to solve and I think that is where the challenge and fun of painting is found!
May Challenge Digitally Simplified
Please use the form below to submit your painting by the last day of May. Your picture should be a high-quality jpg image that is at least 480 pixels along its longest dimension at 72 pixels per inch.
DOWNLOAD May Challenge Photo
DOWNLOAD Simplified Photo
Let me know by comment if you need anything else!
Have fun,
Lee
Copyright notice: This photo may be used to create derivative works in the form of drawings or paintings. The photo may not be used in any other commercial or non-commercial form without permission.
Click here to see the submissions gallery
Category: Monthly Challenges
About the Author (Author Profile)
I am an painter/photographer living in Monument, Colorado and the founder of A Day Not Wasted. As the primary contributor to A Day Not Wasted, I love being surrounded by creative and talented people! Thanks for visiting and comments are always appreciated!Subscribe
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I travel the world in search of beauty and bring home what I see through my lens.
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Beautiful challenge, Lee! I saw your last post about all the care and effort that went into creating this amazing photo! We all applaud you!
Will sink my teeth into this challenge for sure…if the good Lord’s willing and the creeks don’t rise.
OK…wow…hmmm “challenge” is the word here. Well done Lee! let’s see what we come up with now. Thanks so much for all your effort into this! P.S. Happy Birthday (via FB info)
One interesting feature about this picture is the angles of the shadows. Since artificial lighting was used, the light source is much closer than it would be otherwise. Thus, instead of the shadows on the apple and lemon being pretty much parallel with the copper pitcher, they’re angled in slightly different directions. Rendering it this way could (potentially) look wrong in a painting.