Use Sparingly...

One of the advantages of uploading artwork on a regular basis is the opportunity to evaluate the way it looks downsized into an image on a screen. When I first took a picture of my "Turtles," I noticed that the black was overpowering the other colors. Normally, I am careful using black in representational pieces. Unfortunately, I got carried away with shadowing the rocks, and the result was this:






I didn't see a problem with it, until I was getting ready to post it. So, today I took another shot at it, adding more neutral and trying to keep the emphasis on the turtles and center rock. I ended up with this:

Turtles (15 x 20 Mixed Media on Paper)

ORIGINAL SOLD

I can't decide which one works better, but I think the turtles and leaf are better emphasized in the second version-- which was the point of subduing the black with more neutral. Anyway, I've gotten a big reminder about being careful with that black pastel. It's a little easier to see the fish in the second picture, now that the picture isn't overwhelmed by all the black.

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