Monday, March 15, 2010

Composition!

As I continue to learn and grow I have decided to tackle something that has been a challenge for me - composition.   I was always amazed at how Degas could put reds in the background and blues in the foreground and make it work.  Or how he would have dancers strewn all about the place and it looked great.  
 I did two pretty large pieces this week (20 x 24) both with more complex compositions than I normally paint.  I worked from a photo I had taken to paint this one.  Normally, I would have taken out the third girl to the right because she is kind of in an odd space,  but since I have been studying Degas a lot - I know he often has a figure placed like this - or sometimes a door.  I looked at some of his paintings and tried to learn from how he uses color to make the composition work.  So here it is.  I am really happy with how this one turned out and it was a lot of fun to paint.   The colors are really vibrant in person. 

4 comments:

  1. Just beautiful, and it feels so right with the third girl there too. I love that you study and then make decisions on what you learn. Your works are just stunning and they keep getting better and better! Congratulatins Carrie!
    xo

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  2. I am blown away, Carrie. I can't get over how gifted you are!!

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  3. Beautiful, beautiful! Well done!

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  4. just saw this and absolutely love the painting! I think I might recognize the inpiration of the three girls???? Could they possibly be our three favorite little girl cousins????

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