Mike;

Your statement is not true. There are normally at least four or five artists that can be expected to get prizes in this yearly show. This is the first time I got Best of Show. I am very proud of it, because some of the other artists paintings were very good. I must have just overpowered them with volume, because of the size of the painting.

Daniel

Hi Daniel,

I like the colourful theme of the painting and it's technically quite good what you did. There are a few comments I would like to make. My feeling is that the composition would have been more exciting when you used a cut-out instead of showing the complete group this way. The most interesting figures are the three girls on the right. I think focusing on these girls instead of showing the complete group would have been more interesting. Maybe the source-photo could have been used for two or three different interesting paintings.

I think the fountain in the back is distracting. My feeling is that when you focus more on the figures and leave the fountain out of the composition it may have become even more spectacular. The point is that there are movements in the way the girls dance, while the movement suggested by the water of the fountain adds a kind of energy in the back which weakens the overall effect of the group and also the painting that way.

The laughing girl in the back seems to disturb the concentration of the three girls on the right. Leaving her out of the scene was an option I think.

I don't know wether it's the scan but my impression is that the painting is quite dark for a sun-lit scene. The white pieces on the heads of the girls would have made beautiful bright accents in the composition if you had made them lighter.

I like the very colourful pink and red accents. It's a beautiful painting anyway and I do not suggest changing it. It's a wonderful theme to make paintings of.

Greetings,
Peter

Peter

Theoretically you are right about the fountain. When I was painting the fountain the same thing you stated came to my mind. Why put something with so much action in the background and especially at the edge of the painting? I loved the way the fountain looked and I could not resist painting it. I felt the background would be too monotonous without it. It works, because there is so much going on in the painting that the fountain is not too distracting when seeing the painting in person.

I also thought of painting only some of the figures but the purpose of doing the large painting was the challenge of composition, color, values, and drawing with many figures. Besides, the lady standing in the back is the teacher. They work as a team and I wanted to include all of them. Out of the two dozen or so pictures I took, the lady with the smile always had her smile in all but one or two of the pictures. The teeth showing is what helps identify that person. When I found out they and their families were all interested in seeing the painting, I went back and tried to get as close a likeness as I could on all the figures.

Viewing this painting for someone else, I probably would have stated pretty much the same things you stated.

Thank you for your input.

Daniel

Perhaps my color monitor is off but it appears that the color intensity of the painting's background competes with the figures in the foreground. I feel that it draws the eye from the figures.

Karin,

There are a couple of colors I plan to change in the background once I have the chance. The purple haze needs to be grayed down and there is a bright green at the top of the trees that needs to be subdued.

I am hesitant to include the photos I used because we can nitpick the thing to death. But here it is.

First one

This is the second photo I used as a main reference. I had to cut the fifth image to get the correct width to height image size for uploading.

Color influence on fleshtones
 

Daniel,

Each time you put a painting out there, your audience gets something unique out of it. For me, your painting further illustrated something I learned viewing William Whitaker

In order for the full impact of the brightly colored costumes to play out, I would like to see this piece again after you have grayed down and subdued parts of the background you mentioned.

Although you have excellent reference photos, I am pleased to see that you have taken your painting to a higher level. Congratulations on this ambitious work!

On Composition
 

CONGRATULATIONS on WINNING!

My teacher, George Passantino, reminds me when I win an award to understand what the judges liked about the piece, and learn from that. In your case, I am sure it is much more than size that captured their votes!

I echo the comments made above on this exciting work, and look forward to seeing revised version.

I would add a note about what I call "same-direction syndrome." I would have angled the middle rear figure toward viewer's right to break the impression of all leaning back.

Also, one or two figures might be enough to keep in such sharp focus. Variety of edges and chroma might also add to creating one center of interest.

The fact that they are all on different levels helps minimize these concerns, and adds to the beauty of this wonderful piece just as is!