Lonna's Seascape

 Here is Lonna's lovely seascape featuring some dynamic waves. Lonna's pastel technique is getting really accomplished and the colors in this painting are very nice.

I like how Lonna changed the image in the photo to include some beach. It makes the painting a great deal more interesting. I see that the space has been compressed in the painting as well. The waves appear much closer in the painting due to their scale which makes them even more the stars of the show. I think that the handling of the shadows on the sand and water is very nicely done.

 

 

As you can see in Lonna's photo, she has pushed the rock formation on the right to the edge of the painting and opened the space between the rocks which I think was a good decision.

As successful as this painting is, I do have a few suggestions:

1. Be aware of the repetition of intervals.

2. I would consider taking the value of the highlights in the rock down a bit. You'll see from this suggestion and #5 that to accentuate the waves even further, taking down the contrast a little in other areas is helpful.

3. Again, be careful to not repeat size, shape and spacial relationships too much. You'll see a quick suggestion of how to vary these a little below.

4. I like the angle in the photo of this line of a breaking wave.

5. Though I think that the color of the sky on the horizon here is beautiful, I feel that the contrast in value and color pulls our eye up there and away from the waves and rocks below. Just a little less contrast helps.

Here's a quick Photoshop sketch to show a few of the ideas from above.

Remember to accentuate the curl of the wave and that you can illustrate contour of the surface of waves and other undulating shapes by showing the patterns on the surface of the shapes.

I can further explain this next time we're together live or on a zoom in the future. 

A very nice painting that can get to the next level with some relatively easy changes. Great job Lonna.