I needed to get organized for an upcoming show.
As I was sifting through my pile of unframed pieces, I came upon this black and white rendition of
Lan Su Chinese Garden, a classical Chinese garden built with the corroboration from the city of Suzhou.
It wasn't a bad painting at all. It was done with a black and white theme, adhering to the classical ink and water wash theme. That was my intention at the time the painting was conceived anyways.
There are several flaws that I need to mitigate now that I have re-examined the work. The painting needs an area of focus, an area of interest.
The red circled area (the Taihu rock) could use a more three dimensional feel. The yellow circled area lacks definition and seemed incidental. The blue circled area screams for a better association with the rest of the painting.
Instead of amelioration with ink alone, I am asking for help from the color department. I am constantly reminded that this is a painting about a classical Chinese garden and I don't want to make it audacious. So Less Is More, that's my mantra.
I judiciously used Prussian blue ( toned down with ink) and tea ( yes tea ) to reveal the bright and dark areas of the Taihu rock ( red circled area), leaving sufficient void space to illustrate the highlighted areas. The presence of color helped to bring out the structure.
I selectively filled in the yellow circled area with Prussian blue, tying it together with the Taihu rock, setting the stage for the immediate foreground. The vignette corner was kept untouched, to further bring contrast and focus to the courtyard.
In the blue circled area, I darkened the the top and right areas of the painting to increase the contrast.
I also darkened the white board below the soffit overhang, just above the lattice work. The original white bar was too glaring and did not fit in with the overall value of the pavilion. In fact I found that a distraction. The negative space suggesting a small tree was further accentuated by darkening the surrounding area. The same treatment was applied to the mottled leaves above the ridges, making the flying roof ridge more dramatic. The void area to the left of the pavilion was kept to create depth and separation from the background.
Finally tea (darkened with ink) was applied to the bottom of the rhododendron plant to the right of the Taihu rock. giving weight and a presence to the plant. The same color treatment was applied to the plant at the lower left hand corner, making the foreground of plants and rocks a lot more cohesive.
In the end, I do like the new look of my painting. It's like putting on a very light make-up and eye shadows to a beautiful lady. She retains her calm and elegance and ever so slightly catches you with her glimpses.
