Botallack mine in acrylics

The Crowns, Botallack, acrylic and coloured pencil. 10 ins square. Vivien Blackburn

This is a another view of the tin mines that cling to the base of the high cliffs at Botallack.

I'd decided to use acrylics to see how I liked working with them in comparison to the oil sketches I'd done.

:>( I missed my oils.

I ended up throwing some coloured pencil into it to pull it together - but I still prefer my oil paintings. It probably needs a bit more doing to it.

What do you think? honest c&c please?

Comments

Becky Mairi Farrell said…
I love the soft colours you have in the landscape, the greens and browns of the hills and the lovely greys below. I think the solid and vibrant sky doesn't sit so well with the foreground though, it being so bright and the foreground so soft. I think if you lighten the sky and maybe bring some more red-blue into it rather than just the cyan it would pull the piece together well.
7:02 pm
Jean Spitzer said…
I honestly think it looks good, but I completely understand "missing oils," that's how I feel when using acrylics.
9:10 pm
Anonymous said…
restiouTo me it looks flatter than your usual work - as though with the acrylic drying quicker you have ended up with less colour & tone variation overall. I think a bit more pencil would help matters. I love the view though - looks like a stunning area to see irl.
9:17 pm
Lindsay said…
I know KJ used acrylics. Some things are possible in each but not both...There never seems to be one "perfect" media. This is why I could open my own personal art store.

This is a really great view. Love the CP on top too.
2:40 am
vivien said…
Oh great comments - thank you all !

Becky, I agree and I was wondering whether to totally soften the colour of sea and sky (though it was that colour, that day) I think I may well go this way

Cath - yes it's that flatness that I dislike and it does need more marks

I'll mull over these ideas and any others that get posted and see if I can pull it round to something I like better.

It truly is a fabulous area :>D

Jean I'm glad it's not just me who misses oils when using acrylics - the question is to persevere? or just admit that I prefer oils?
7:34 am
Robyn Sinclair said…
Wonderful composition, Vivien. My only suggestion would be to try for some additional depth towards the horizon but, as you know, I'm not a landscape artist.

I do love the loose juicy style you have with oils :)
9:37 am
daviddrawsandpaints said…
In my limited experience, Vivien, I think the problem (certainly for me) is that we try to use acrylics in the same way as oils and if you enjoy painting with oils it can be a bit of a disappointment (certainly is for me). While acrylics can be over-painted in a short timescale for me they tend to get "stuck" and not easy to manipulate, whereas with oils you can take a longer time on the palette, push and pull them on the support, scrape them back and even wipe them off if you don't like it. (I'm sure you didn't know any of that :o). I think acrylics need a very different technique, perhaps more suited to abstract?
This cleft cliff painting of yours is perhaps too small a picture size to see much in the way of detail, but I can say I like the drama of the view!
BTW, Thanks for your comments and encouragement on my "Scherzo" paintings. I appreciate them very much.
10:39 am
vivien said…
Robyn you are probably right - all these comments are helpful and I'll decide whether to alter this or just start again ..... in oils! when I've had more feedback :>) it's all much appreciated

clappies are lovely but some thought out crit can be so valuable

David - exactly

and your recent work really has been great :>)
11:10 am
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