It's kind of a secret because the piece will be a surprise Christmas gift, but I figured, "Hey, I only have about five blog followers and I'm not using names here." So please do NOT RAT ME OUT or share this with anybody who has a Scottish Terrier until AFTER CHRISTMAS.
But I COULD USE YOUR HELP AND YOUR COMMENTS!
Anyhow, because the client has a Celtic heritage (no, the OTHER Celtics, they are NOT Boston basketball fans), I thought it would be BRILLIANT to incorporate their terrier with a tartan background that relates directly to their family. So I did the research and found out what the tartan looked like.
Then I pitched it to the client along with a rough sketch. They ALSO thought it would be brilliant!
So I went ahead with the painting.
And EVERY TIME I LOOK AT IT, I hate it.
HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT.
I have spent DAYS on that freaking plaid background, toning it down, bringing it back up, etc.
And what I have is like that silly Old Spice Commercial where the hunky, six-packed dude says, "Look at your boyfriend. Now look at me...now look at your boyfriend..."
Although I think I encountered that first with the ad for "Puss in Boots" where Antonio Banderas' voice purrs out of Puss' mouth, "Look at your cat. Now look at ME..."
But this version is more like:
- You look at one of the BIG RED SQUARES.
- Then you look at the dog.
- Then you look BACK at the BIG RED SQUARES.
Boy, you think, those are big.
And red.
What was this piece supposed to be a painting of, I wonder?
- Then (maybe) you look back at the dog.
- Then it's back to those freaking red squares. Or maybe one of the blue lines.
- Then ANOTHER piece of the background--maybe that IDIOTIC white and yellow line.
- Then you go lie down with a headache.
- Or you go pick up a Magic Eye book, to give your OWN EYES A BREAK!
I called my friend, Ann, today (she is one of my most trusted artist friends), to try and get her critique on it, and, after I described it to her, she said,
"Oh, so it's like a trampoline for your eyes?"
And YES.
That is EXACTLY WHAT IT IS LIKE.
A TRAMPOLINE FOR YOUR EYES.
They bounce ALL OVER THE PLACE with this thing.
And it's supposed to be ABOUT THE DOG!
So I need to change that. I've decided to bury it in the closet this weekend and take a look at it early next week with Ann, to see how to fix it.
From experience, I know that I'm smack-dab in the UGLY UNDERPAINTING PHASE. And the only way out is through.
But I don't have to ENJOY it! Grrrr....
If you have any insights, they are HUGELY APPRECIATED! But I'm taking the weekend off from this guy! Happy Friday!
I look at it through the eyes of a photographer and want to see the dog pop out of the portrait. With a camera, I'd do that with a shallow depth of field to slightly obscure the background. I love the dog, and I love the background but don't think they love each other here. :) I get the style, though. The four bright red squares are the most distracting, followed by the lightness of the dog's eyes. I'd love to see another shot if you change it!
ReplyDeleteOK - scratch the comment about the eyes. I clicked to see a larger image, and I actually love the eyes!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Thanks! No, the dog and background were really NOT loving each other at ALL! Holy cow, it was jarring!
ReplyDeleteI actually have ended up layering some translucent greys over the background to pull it back and now it's definitely about the DOG, but you can still see the plaid pattern faintly! He's almost done and I'll definitely post the finished product! I'm MUCH happier with where it is now!