I finally finished Block 2 of Evolve Artist! 😀😀😀 This is the 20th exercise in the Block, and the 10th painting. I chose to paint a couple of carved wooden owls that I bought especially for this course, plus some fake eggs. I’m not sure what type of eggs they actually are, but whatever!
Evolve Artist Block 2, #20 – Two Owls. Oil on canvas.
As the final painting in Block 2, this exercise is supposed to show the best we can do, without being too difficult. I feel like I overstretched myself slightly, and my last painting was more correct than this one, because I had trouble identifying the values in a couple of places. The owls have a lot of surface variations, with colour changes in the wood, and carved areas that cast shadows which I struggled to render within the constraints that the program imposes at this stage (four values, and two edge types). So maybe I should have chosen objects with a more uniform surface colour and texture.
I also made a mistake with my proportions, making the eyes on the right owl too small. I didn’t even notice this until I’d finished painting it! I got so engrossed in the details of each part that I wasn’t stepping back to look at the whole picture. So that’s something to keep in mind in future. Also, the left owl’s eyes really are slightly wonky – I didn’t mess them up! But I think it adds to the cuteness 🙂
Despite these issues though, I enjoyed this painting, and I’m quite pleased with it. It was definitely good practice that improved my skills some more. That’s true of all the exercises so far in this course – each one is just a bit harder than the last, so it never feels too stressful. But those small steps really add up, and I’m happy with my progress in the first two Blocks.
I think my Block 1 paintings look better than my Block 2s overall, which is a bit annoying! But it’s easier to paint from a photo than from life, especially when those photos are professionally composed and lit specifically to make an effective painting. So I’m just as pleased with my Block 2 paintings even if they look less polished. I learned a lot in Block 2, but am really ready to move on to colour now.
See all my Evolve artist paintings.
