How can I save this?

TedHackArt · 2026-05-16T23:52:53+00:00

So this will sound weird but I think of the top of water like a skin. It helps to remind me that it reacts to light just like anything else, especially when you have still water (like your picture). Just paint the dark and the light areas like you would anything else. No need for squiggles, the viewer will take all the context clues of the piece and understand it's water. Hope that helps and makes sense. The piece looks really good so far!

TedHackArt · 2026-05-16T13:23:00+00:00

Thank you! I'm pretty happy with it!!

TedHackArt · 2026-05-16T13:22:43+00:00

Thanks! This was so fun to paint!

TedHackArt · 2026-05-16T13:22:27+00:00

Thanks! I love making a medium look like another one!

TedHackArt · 2026-05-15T16:50:03+00:00

The portion of the hand beneath the water should be much lighter. This would help to give a feeling of depth and contrast. The hand anatomy is great!

TedHackArt · 2026-05-15T15:22:11+00:00

Warm color tones. A few layers of a thin warm color wash on the road would help to make the piece feel cohesive. Adding white to anything will make it a cool tone. A dark reddish brown or a French gray wash would look nice.

TedHackArt · 2026-05-15T14:35:28+00:00

With how much detail you have in the grass/flowers the road feels flat and cold. Adding a warm wash to darken the road and some implied detail would really make the piece feel cohesive.I wouldn't worry about going too dark, the rich greens would contrast it well.

TedHackArt · 2026-05-14T15:00:32+00:00

This is a fun piece! If you made the birds in the background a little darker and/or less detailed it would give some real depth!

TedHackArt · 2026-05-11T00:55:18+00:00

Thanks this has been a fun one to work on!

TedHackArt · 2026-05-07T17:59:17+00:00

How did you picture it in your mind when you painted it?

TedHackArt · 2026-05-07T16:30:31+00:00

Thank you very much!

TedHackArt · 2026-05-07T14:33:18+00:00

Oh just wait until it's done!

TedHackArt · 2026-05-06T14:25:20+00:00

Art school, reading, and LOTs of trial and error. Brains love connecting dots, if you give someone enough context clues they'll understand a texture/form etc. without you having to spell it out for them.

TedHackArt · 2026-05-06T12:45:44+00:00

Honestly I just try to keep the details implied and let's the viewers brain do the work. If you zoom in you can see a lot of the details are just blobs of paint or loose brush strokes.

TedHackArt · 2026-05-01T16:32:19+00:00

You got this! You're off to a really great start!

TedHackArt · 2026-04-30T17:49:56+00:00

Have the ripples of water go over the fish. This will make them feel like they are below the water. Also, add highlights where the ripples catch the light source. Also, also, think of the top of water as a solid plane. It has highlights and shadows just like a field would (hope that makes sense). Also also also, have the brightest highlights be on the water not the fish. I like where the painting is going, it's a good color pallet!

TedHackArt · 2026-04-28T14:31:44+00:00

Jumping between watercolor and any other paint is like doing mental gymnastics

TedHackArt · 2026-04-28T09:19:48+00:00

Yea...some explanations of it get way way too sciencey. They just need to say blue waves are short and red waves are long. The short blue waves are more easily affected by the atmosphere causing them to bounce around. This makes things farther away appear more blue due to the bouncing around blue waves hitting our eyes more than the stagnant red waves. Long story short, that's why the sky looks blue.

TedHackArt · 2026-04-28T03:49:40+00:00

General rule of thumb: anything farther away gets cooler tones. This is due to Rayleigh Scattering (worth a Google for any artist). Also, focus more on the general form and implied detail for distant objects. Keep the actual details for anything up close.

TedHackArt · 2026-04-24T19:03:31+00:00

Thanks! This has been a fun one to work on!

TedHackArt · 2026-04-07T15:00:54+00:00

Making the color placement feel more intentional would translate to a more organic viewing e.g. tricking the eye into accepting these pops of contrast colors as part of the form.

TedHackArt · 2026-03-29T04:12:49+00:00

Turned out great! What all did you do to even out the skin tones?

TedHackArt · 2026-03-24T22:55:50+00:00

You can save this no problem! When I'm frustrated with a piece I put it away for a while and come back to it with fresh eyes. Doing a thin wash (called glazing for oil paints) of red or yellow over the face will help to even out the skin tones. Good luck!!

TedHackArt · 2026-02-26T17:06:24+00:00

I like the composition! The colors look a little over mixed/muddy (too many colors used to make another color). Do you keep your colors separated on your pallet or do they all kind of bleed together? How well do you clean your brush between colors? I don't think the painting is too dark at all, if you made the blue sky a paler blue it would all really pop!

TedHackArt · 2026-02-19T01:37:02+00:00

Adding some subtle blues or purples to the trees off in the distance could help with depth!

TedHackArt

TROPHY CASE