Monday, February 24, 2014

Reworking: The Moose River in Winter, 5x7-Sold


The Moose River in Winter, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

   In this post I'm sharing something I have learned from other artists: if you have work you believe it's good but has not sold in a while, you should look at it again and figure out what it needs.

    The original below, which I had posted before, was painted two years ago. I loved the painting and I thought it was going to sell, but it came back home show after show.

Before
   It was time to analyze what it needed. The composition was fine, the palette was appropriate; how could I improve it?  I thought or the WOW factor I have read in art magazines and while I don't agree every painting should have it, I thought that something to call attention was needed on this piece. Adding brighter colors to the distant trees to give the impression of glaring sunshine did the trick. I added yellow highlights to the focal area trees and to their reflections in the water, and with very little a cold winter scene became more appealing.

2 comments:

Donna T said...

Nice changes, Adriana! Maybe it means that we can all like snow scenes as long as there is some warm sunshine to go with them. Congrats on the sale too!

Adriana Meiss said...

Thank you Donna!
In my case I think that is true, at least I'm more inclined to like sunny snow scenes but perhaps that's because I don't want to be reminded of my cold studio! I did sell once a winter scene that expressed cold and loneliness, though.