DweezelJazz Art Blog » Lighting

River of Tulips Painting Revisited

DweezelJazz — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:10:37 +0000

‘River of Tulips’ started as a 16 x 10″ (41 x 25 cm) egg tempera painting. I spent many hours of labor over the details of the tulips. But I remained unhappy with the result. So I took a photograph of the painting and, last week, painted over it digitally until I arrived at a painting that now conveys the idea I originally had in mind.

Digital Painting of 'River of Tulips' by Nat Wildish

I could easily paint on the original egg tempera painting with egg tempera paint until I arrived at the result you see here. Maybe one day I will!

Here’s the original egg tempera painting of ‘River of Tulips’:

Original Egg Tempera Painting of 'River of Tulips' by Nat Wildish

I can see merits in both versions of the painting. Which one do you like best, and why? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks.

Capturing Light and Color In The Sky

DweezelJazz — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 07:00:00 +0000

Every moment the colors and light in the sky change. Using a camera to catch some of these moments can be very satisfying.Sunsets create magnificent colors.Ocean sunsets have a mirror in the ocean which adds to the scene and play of light.Strong contrasts of light and dark create an image dramatically different from the pastel beach scene above.Different times or parts of the sky during the same sunset can give entirely different effects.Land locked with overhead clouds and lit from below and behind gives rise to all manner of blues and purples.Catching a rainbow with a camera may not lead to a pot of gold, but it sure is a jewel for the eye.Lightning this close can strike deadly, but it’s most fascinating. (This photo was also included in a previous post called Thunder and Lightning!, but is fun to see again.)Skies at all times seem to hold treasures. Small rainbow lights in the depth of winter.Blankets of clouds look like they’re trying ineffectively to shut down the light behind the hills.With each passing second, what’s captured by the lens is totally changed.Soft, almost monochromatic, lighting of winter snow and sky makes for a picture postcard image. No matter the place or time of year, it seems the skies always have some beauty in color and light just waiting to be photographed.

Highlighting Reflections in Photography

DweezelJazz — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 07:00:00 +0000

Sometimes reflections are unwanted in photography, but when you look specifically to include them in an image it’s fun to see how they can enhance the overall effect.This photograph of the forsythia outside the window was taken at two slightly different angles in order to see what the difference would be in the reflection and its contribution to the scene.In the first shot the reflection has little color in it and the main emphasis of the image is focused within the window frame. In the second photo the yellow forsythia is reflected strongly in the window pane along with the fir tree. This extends the colorful focus to inside the window frame, helping to make the view seem less distant and removed.Superimposing two totally distinct images, one reflected, can create an almost surreal result.And there are the more commonplace reflections which add more detail and interest to a picture.The light reflecting off this small mountain lake lifts the entire scene giving it a bright and irresistible appeal.Using the reflection of patterns can create a very interesting complexity.Still water can be very useful for making images in which it becomes difficult to differentiate the reflected from the actual.This lamp shot is fun. At first glance, the reflection looks to be somehow related to the light bulb.Catching these reflections of evening light bouncing off a modern glass building across the street from the Tower of London creates a fantastic result.