Fixing a Big Problem

"The Overseer"

Watercolor 22 x 30 inches

After finishing my painting, "The Overseer," last week I was perplexed by the total lack of color variation in the shadows and the harsh contrast in the painting. I worked hard on Photoshop to try to correct the problem to no avail. After much consideration, I decided to repaint the entire painting. There were a few small compositional fixes I could make, such as the fire hydrant in the foreground and the dark car on the left margin. Both needed to be moved inboard a bit. But those were the least of the problems. My biggest difficulty was what was happening inside my expensive camera . . . .

I have learned from a photographer friend that digital cameras average and compress the exposure data in a picture. That is, the necessary aperture setting for white areas are smaller, or less exposure time is needed, than for black. When an image has both white and black, as well as middle values, the camera must measure what is required for the extremes and average them to affect an acceptable exposure. The problem is that in that averaging, much of the collected data is compressed and some is actually discarded in order to arrive at a JPEG image. In that process, any subtle color shifts are typically lost.

So my problem was two fold: I had exposure problems and a painting problem where I had not expressed the necessary color variation well enough and had too large of a value interval (black to white) in the painting. Both had to be fixed. I went back to the easel vowing to keep my goals of keeping value extremes to a cautious minimum and to put more recognizable color variation into the painting. I could not go into that state of ecstasy that takes us painters away to another planet for as long as we are applying the paint. I had to stay alert.

In the end, the painting was an improvement over the first one. The difficulty then was to find out how to get around all that compression and averaging inside the camera. I found the solution in photographing in "RAW" mode. That is, every pixel is recorded as is, in Red, Green or Blue, without modifying or averaging the data. I have found that most professional photographers use this mode for that very reason. I had some studying to do to learn about this and to decipher my expensive camera to be able to pull it off.

I often marvel about how much I have had to learn about other stuff than painting in order to produce a decent painting, or photo of one. I have been struggling with photo issues for decades! Then there is the other stuff, too, like priming canvas, or the mediums in which different paints are suspended, or comosition, or what ever . . . .which I won't go into here. It all has to work in concert.

Surely, you can see the difference in the two versions above. Do you think I was right to step up and re-tackle the whole thing?

The Overseer

"Pop's Corner"

watercolor 22 x 30 inches

"The Overseer"

Watercolor 21 x 29 inches

I haven't painted at all seriously for quite some time . . . .as you know, I have been busy with all sorts of stuff, consulting, Presidential duties of a large art society, teaching and mowing my lawn (Ha!).

Two years ago, China innaugurated an enormous, globally encompassing watercolor competition. By their own admission, the Chinese felt that their highly esteemed artists had been living in a closed country and had not had much exposure to what was happening in the outside world in the way of watercolor art. So, they opened this world wide competition to ratchet up association of fellow artists from around the globe. Entries come from all over the world and they are some of the most amazing works anyone has ever seen.

Contrary to the western world, where oil painting is revered, watercolor painting in China has been honored as the highest form of painting for centuries. It is a key part of their heritage and, believe me, their art is astoundingly special! We have much to learn from their extraordinary painters.

This year, I committed to enter that competition. Two of my friends entered two years ago, John Salminen and Mark Mehaffey . . . .and each won an all expense paid trip to China to receive their very prestigious awards. I figure that I cannot lazily sit by and watch this happen again without taking a shot at it. So I did. For the last three days, I put everything I knew about painting into this painting, "The Overseer" and really got excited as I was putting brush to paper. Not wanting to submit trite subjects, I tackled this city scene with two figures in a very structured value composition.

We'll see what happens. Mind you, I am not holding my breath, but I do have my fingers crossed to be accepted. I entered another piece which has won praise in other societies here in the USA, "Pop's Corner." That piece is moody and has an underlying meaning to many whose fathers or grandfathers had workshops in their basement or garage. Maybe it will speak, also, to the jurors who are selecting the show in China. Just maybe!