Over the Italian Rooftops, I Retouched the Painting, The Final Result After Deepening Shadows


"Over the Italian Rooftops"
11"x14"
Oil on Board
Available

Painting from a reference photo is not my first choice anymore. Since when I started painting on location, I find using reference photos more challenging than ever - how things change: I used to be scared of painting on location!!!
The photo for this painting was taken at sundown, so the light resembled a cloudy day, with no direct sunlight, which made things hazy and with low contrast.

Nevertheless I loved the landscape, so I really wanted to paint it.
The photo at the top is the final version, below are phase 1 and 2 of this painting.
The main change between phase 2 and 3 is that I deepened the color of the big roof.




Over the Rooftops, Stage 1


I originally posted this painting a few months ago, but I was not sure if I was finished with it. Then I worked some more on it: I made the shadows more colorful.

"Over the Rooftops"stage 2
I recently came across this notion that when areas in sunlight are washed out or dull in color, shadows could (or should?) be more colorful.

So I tried to apply this concept to this painting, adding blue and violet to the shadows and dark areas.
I feel like I was able to improve it, though I am not sure it shows from the photos, because green, blues, and violets are very hard to reproduce in a photo, they always look a little off.

After some more consideration, I decided the big roof did not stand out as much as I remembered, so I deepened its color.
And that was the last change, now I'll keep changing it, I promise. :D


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