Your opinion on this painting?

Question

http://www.deviantart.com/view/34958481/

There's something not quite right about it to my eye, but I can't put my finger on it. The photo isn't all that great I apologise.

Answer 1

very colorful and bright but not to my liking

Answer 2

did you do this painting? Very good details I must say. But I understand where the strain is coming from. It feels immediately out of balance somewhere in the top middle. Maybe it's that this arrow is pointing up from the bottom left corner, but it points to nothing, and then your eye is sort of pulled to the left in a an unnatural motion to look at the kettle.. .and then unnaturally back down again along the cracks.

I think if you took the angle of the painting and shifted your own eye one foot to the left about... and kept the focal point sorta where the two handles meet, it would be more of a balanced painting. And the subject is in the center but the canvas is shifted to the top right... you end up with alot of empty space up there. I can go on for ever on little things that could be different, but all in all, great work on details, and colors. Balance and placement, need work.

update: Also, why is the background grey? Was it to focus on the fruits and the red stripe of the table cloth? or was it just a color out of consequence, since it couldn't be white, nor could it take away focus from the fruits... I think you should rethink the grey. But that's just me. It blends with the silver and perhaps doesn't do it justice.

Answer 3

It's not quite finished. You need to rethink the large black area in the bottom left corner, it's too weighted. You also need to pay attention to the background, it looks as if you don't care about what's back there. The silver dishes or whatever were well thought out but the fruit needs a little more work. What I have to say about the whole thing is this: It looks like there was a lot of processing in the whole thing, but this sort of still life has been painted for centuries. Contemporary art has moved past this. Don't you want to try and paint something that's never been painted?

Answer 4

good work. i am going to repeat a few things already said, i guess. the background is a little too big to be that boring. if it was smaller it would work the way you have it. the shards of glass look too predictible. some of the lines end when i am pretty sure they would run clear cross the mirror, or at least into another shard. also, warp some of the edges of the images. i dont think it would necessarily bend them a great deal but there would be gaps between the colors and the lines would no longer match up. i actually like the big black void in the corner maybe bounce some harder colors off the opposite corner (from the mirror or a felection) and it would help balance the drop felt form the black area. the technique is good. the colors are used well. your ability to create a "smooth" surface and texture are good too. good luck . its great to know that you are open to criticism. thats how you get better. but listen to yourself just as well.

Answer 5

I think it is really striking, I love the reflections on the teapot!

You are asking for improvements, so I would say MAYBE more shadow to show the mirror stands out from the backing... but that is only because you have asked for something (and it could be to do with the photo, like you said). I honestly think that is fantastic!

Also, does the spoon need to reflect the apples maybe? Again, I'm only picking at stuff because you aren't completely satisfied, I think you could leave it exactly how it is and do great!

Answer 6

I wouldn't have known that it was supposed to be a reflection in a broken mirror if the title hadn't told me. When a mirror breaks the fractures are thin, not large chunks like the painting depicts. Also, light that hits the edges of the fractures reflects differently..sort of like a sparkle...the painting is flat in that regard. I would prefer to see the still life, which is lovely by the way, sitting on a table in front of the broken mirror so I could see both the broken and unbroken images.

Answer 7

It's nice, don't worry about the black, gray coz they gave more life to the colours of the fruits. But if you try to make a reflection on broken mirrors, put a real one in your subject then paint, you will notice the difference of broken glass reflection from each piece of broken glasses. On the other hand, if you paint then just put an imaginary broken glasses lines, your painting is like a paint cut into pieces or a painting shadowed by something like tree branches, wire, etc.

Answer 8

The edges are to sharp, if the mirror is broke, the continuing reflection shouldn't carry straight through. A mirrors reflection isn't so "crisp." It looks like a picture painted on glass. Overall it's pretty good though. Just some constructive criticism.

Answer 9

Overall this is a good work, but I find the right angle 'cracks' over the tea pot to be unnatural and the fact that they're not consistent with the rest of the shattered effect makes them an unwanted focal point.

I personally would like to see a bit more 'depth' worked into to the crack lines, as they are a little flat and unnatural.

Otherwise you work appears solid.

Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Eli

Answer 10

I like it, I am not much for the "still life" paintings (how many paintings of fruit can you stand!) but it has alot of interest in that it is "broken". I think that the black "cracks" on it should have a slight white or grey edge. So that it looks more like glass. Try this, break (or if worried about your luck, find a broken) mirror, pay close attention to the edge and paint what you see. (I am assuming that this is your painting)

Answer 11

I think it's a nice painting. I like the reflection on the cups. The only thing that I think might not be right, is I think the apples aren't dark enough. They look kind of like those fake apples.