Here is another before and after. I added the blue background after experimenting in photoshop. I don't know that it improved it, but I learned something about going strong with a complementary background color.
You're right about not necessarily improving it. I think the white background made the flowers pop more, but it also looked more unfinished. I think the intensity of leaves is maybe a 7, so the white being a 1 had a 6 step difference. The blue is also maybe a 7 or 8, so the contrast then is just 1, so it doesn't let the green forms pop. Maybe go darker at this point, particularly behind the leaves - or maybe add some red the the background and go for the orange green purple triad???
Okay, I'll go darker and see what happens - can't hurt at this stage. I like the value levels to help think about it. In this case, the color doesn't get the credit either does it? K
Here's another thought. The tulips are beautiful and I hate to suggest this, but what if you take an xacto knife and cut out the negative space, and then get a pack of colored paper, either construction or preferably coloraid (www.coloraid.com), and experiment using different background colors. I know you can do this in photoshop, but it's just not the same. It looks like coloraid also has a gray scale pack. Cari used this in her college classes and I have coveted her paper pack eversince. So if you can redeem the painting by going darker, great, if not you have nothing to loose.
You're right about not necessarily improving it. I think the white background made the flowers pop more, but it also looked more unfinished. I think the intensity of leaves is maybe a 7, so the white being a 1 had a 6 step difference. The blue is also maybe a 7 or 8, so the contrast then is just 1, so it doesn't let the green forms pop. Maybe go darker at this point, particularly behind the leaves - or maybe add some red the the background and go for the orange green purple triad???
ReplyDeleteOkay, I'll go darker and see what happens - can't hurt at this stage. I like the value levels to help think about it. In this case, the color doesn't get the credit either does it? K
ReplyDeleteHere's another thought. The tulips are beautiful and I hate to suggest this, but what if you take an xacto knife and cut out the negative space, and then get a pack of colored paper, either construction or preferably coloraid (www.coloraid.com), and experiment using different background colors. I know you can do this in photoshop, but it's just not the same. It looks like coloraid also has a gray scale pack. Cari used this in her college classes and I have coveted her paper pack eversince. So if you can redeem the painting by going darker, great, if not you have nothing to loose.
ReplyDelete