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David Roubaud

Colorizing a temple sketch.

For this part of the practice, I am painting over the sketch that I previously created to get a closer idea of what the final composition could look like. I am trying to divide in this case the scene into a foreground, with the darkest shapes, then a mid ground, with the elements of the water that are reflecting the architectural shapes, as well as the temples in sight. Finally the background contains the vegetation that we can observe with a simple set of greens. This simple addition of various shades of green behind the architectural shapes adds to the impression of the dense nature of the jungle.



I can’t say though that I am completely satisfied with the process so far, because the brushstrokes continue to be a bit flat, some merging in a way onto others, making it more difficult to make out a sense of the depth they need to represent. What I am liking oddly enough of my color choice is the base turquoise blue that I chose, making it seem like the quality of the water is crystalline and highly reflective. It is normally not my first go-to choice, because I tend to stay away from colors that are very saturated. Perhaps what keeps more of a balance is the fact that most other colors in the scene are not saturated at all. This creates an evenness that is not irritating or displeasing to see. It is interesting to see for example that his can be done even with complementary colors, by keeping some saturated and others not saturated.


For what is left of the paintover process I am likely going to keep using the same base colors, with the intention of changing those that are supposed to be hit by direct sunlight. I think that this is not very noticeable at the moment, the only case that is effective being the column that is the farthest to the right with a sudden change of color from a lighter shade of brown to a much darker color in value. There is another gradation that is supposedly happening to the main temple structure, with a change in color value happening to the relief sculptures to the right of the main entrance. This change in color value is also visible with the water reflection, creating a sense of the temple’s proximity to the water.


To create a sense of interest in the composition, the columns towards the left side of the scene will be kept partially destroyed, creating a sense that a large portion of the original structure has been lost to erosion, and the overall passage of time. I could be thinking about adding broken down pieces of the columns or sculptures in the ares of the reflecting pool of water, to send this message visually with more strength. Added to this, I was thinking on finishing the left side of the foreground elements to also be partly broken down walls and trees that have grown on top of the original structures. I think that in general the darker coloration of the foreground serves as a frame to create the impression that this space is deep inside an unexplored jungle.

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