Please critique/compliment/criticise my painting!

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http://thether.net/gcatt.jpg

― miele kitty (miele), Sunday, 16 October 2005 13:57 (twenty years ago)

I thought it was alright but my flatmate thinks it's horrible. Am I really that biased? Is it tripe?

― miele kitty (miele), Sunday, 16 October 2005 13:58 (twenty years ago)

it looks a bit like a painted version of those photoshopped animals people like so much. its ok though

― terry lennox. (gareth), Sunday, 16 October 2005 14:30 (twenty years ago)

I like it, but it's begging to be part of a larger composition - a narrative, even.

― Collardio Gelatinous (collardio), Sunday, 16 October 2005 16:20 (twenty years ago)

it's cute.

― nathalie, a bum like you (stevie nixed), Sunday, 16 October 2005 16:23 (twenty years ago)

it could sell on the thrift store circuit. maybe.

― amon (eman), Sunday, 16 October 2005 16:25 (twenty years ago)

Well, it's kind of kitschy, but it has a certain lyricism to it as well. Seems like you used the paint pretty thinly in some places - I can still see the canvas even in the jpeg. Makes it look sort of unfinished.

― Hurting (Hurting), Sunday, 16 October 2005 16:27 (twenty years ago)

I've always liked that effect, actually, and it seems that it was done deliberately here. In chinese calligraphy, bare page or paper showing through a brushstroke is called 'flying white' and is considered desireable as an indication of spontenaity. The painting certainly has an asian flavor to it, and looks like it was done very quickly with as few brushstrokes as possible. In a good way.

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Sunday, 16 October 2005 16:35 (twenty years ago)

It's only called that in particular cases - when the brush is drying and the hairs are separating. Good example on my site here. The term isn't used when you simply leave areas of canvas unpainted, or start with a very lightly charged brush.

(Yes, I realise this is a bit beside the point.)

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 16 October 2005 17:09 (twenty years ago)

"The term isn't used when you simply leave areas of canvas unpainted"

Of course, but leaving areas unpainted is also an important aesthetic choice in that tradition.

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Sunday, 16 October 2005 17:14 (twenty years ago)

I don't know why I'm telling you this, you obviously know much more than I do.

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Sunday, 16 October 2005 17:15 (twenty years ago)

Actually, I do know why I'm telling you this: because this has been a pet peeve of mine since school. I often leave bare canvas showing, and I got criticized for it a LOT, which I resented because it seemed more a case of people worrying about whether you're following the rules rather than whether the technique in question is producing a good or interesting effect. It always struck me a bit like saying "he colored outside the lines!"

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Sunday, 16 October 2005 17:21 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, but paper is nice. Canvas is sort of bumpy and ugly.

― Hurting (Hurting), Sunday, 16 October 2005 18:53 (twenty years ago)

outsider art.

― cutty (mcutt), Sunday, 16 October 2005 18:54 (twenty years ago)

There are reasons for leaving "bare" canvas showing and there are reasons for not. Most people do this without knowing why they should or shouldn't and it often ends up looking tacky.

― I was CRYING when Huell Howser's head exploded in a local feed store (dr g), Sunday, 16 October 2005 18:56 (twenty years ago)

OTM. Here it just conflicts with the image - the cat is supposed to be overwhelmingly close and take up the whole canvas, and yet there are these unexplained gaps in it.

― Hurting (Hurting), Sunday, 16 October 2005 18:59 (twenty years ago)

I think it's alright, too

less alright: hurting's posts

― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 16 October 2005 19:02 (twenty years ago)

I also find that bare canvas is often a result of rote, uninspired brushstrokes; the latter is the more offensive act, in my opinion.

― I was CRYING when Huell Howser's head exploded in a local feed store (dr g), Sunday, 16 October 2005 19:06 (twenty years ago)

I like the nose and the top of the head, they look so much like a cat. The eyes are great too. If I were to criticise, it would probably be the lower half of the picture which seems a bit formless.

― isadora (isadora), Sunday, 16 October 2005 19:18 (twenty years ago)

Thanks for the feedback! I have taken it all into consideration and I see that I have *far-to-go* as an artiste.

The painting is done from a photo of my cat
http://thether.net/cat1.jpg
with the following influences
http://thether.net/cat2.jpg
http://thether.net/cat3.gif
http://thether.net/cat4.jpg
and it started off looking like
http://thether.net/cat5.jpg

So basically it's meant to be my cat being a chinese dragon kite. Hence the canvas showing through the black calligraphic-type strokes and the formless lowerhalf (that's mist and clouds!)

My technical skills are not very good so I'm not sure how successful this picture is - but I'm sure it's not so bad that my flatmate should howl and run out of the room everytime she sees it :-)

― miele kitty (miele), Tuesday, 18 October 2005 09:26 (twenty years ago)

A lack of definition around the jaw area turned it into a fox for me, I'm afraid.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 18 October 2005 16:17 (twenty years ago)

I like the scetch more than the finished painting.

― chap who would dare to violate the least amount of laws of physics (chap), Tuesday, 18 October 2005 16:55 (twenty years ago)

Don't get me wrong, I like some things about it too - especially the broad caligraphy type strokes for the eyes.

― Hurting (Hurting), Tuesday, 18 October 2005 16:58 (twenty years ago)

"My technical skills are not very good so I'm not sure how successful this picture is - but I'm sure it's not so bad that my flatmate should howl and run out of the room everytime she sees it :-)"

Is said flatmate a cat?

Seriously, before I read your comments about your influences being chinese dragon kite, I thought to myself: it looks like a chinese dragon kite. I would say you achieved your goal.

I too like the sketch better than the completed work. I think it is the bold simplicity that grabs my eye. Keep painting!

― Wiggy (Wiggy), Tuesday, 18 October 2005 17:15 (twenty years ago)

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