CRITIQUE 12 - TWO ABSTRACTS part 1 and 2

QUESTION from Jan Stickland:  Please give me your honest opinion of them and if i could improve on them somehow
ANSWER:  
Hi Jan - thank you so much for submitting for a critique!  Your abstracts are vibrant and full of color!  Very lovely!!
I don't need to talk color as you have a vast knowledge of it already!!
But I will talk about using value to set up a composition in a painting like this where you cannot lean on the structure of shapes to create the composition.

When an image has a lot of the same or similar value it may not have a strong focal point or direction for the eye to follow or be held in the piece.  
If you notice in the first image, it is much the same value overall, however, there is a hint of the eye heading toward the vortex...  so - If I enhanced that though hopefully we will see a stronger composition with interest to make the eye travel within the piece and also an area to slightly hold the eye's interest.
ORIGINAL PAINTING:

EDITED IMAGE:
Note the stronger lighted areas and how they grab your eye and lead you around the painting in a swirl motion to the center dark area just below the highlighted school of fish.

 There are several patterns that artists utilize in paintings whether they are abstract or representational.  one is the z pattern another is the triangle and so on.  These patterns make the eye follow through the piece to "read" it and create visual interest and visual sense.

For people who read left to right the eye naturally looks for patterns that match that idea.  Same with right to left readers, etc.
A strong pattern in this piece (to me) is a triangle

This is not the only answer, of course...  but it might give you a jump start!  
Best of luck with your work - it is wonderful!!
cj
PART 2:

QUESTION from Jan Stickland:  Please give me your honest opinion of them and if i could improve on them somehow
ANSWER:  PART 2 
Hi Jan - thank you so much for submitting for a critique!  Your abstracts are vibrant and full of color!  Very lovely!!  And I apologize for the photoshop mutilation of your artwork!  ;)
Again, great use of color and great excitement and movement in your 
ORIGINAL WORK:

Of course - for every "rule" there is the exception!  
I spoke a bit about patterns with your last abstract piece in part 1.

We read from left to right and tend to read paintings in the same manner.  If we don't  find landmarks where we expect them, then we are confused and do not know that to look at.
So, as in this piece, we give em landmarks via shape size and by changing value and contrasting areas in this
CRITIQUE:

So you see ... we have set the pattern the eye will follow with the falling orbs into a dark center with a glowing atmosphere that leads to the focal point of the highest contrasting values which is the left edge of the "hole"    
So you can set up tried and true patterns in your paintings - OR, you can set your own path for the eye to follow through your piece.
I hope that helps some - and remember - everything said is brought from that person's experiences in life - so you might find other solutions that work just as well from your experiences.  
There are many paths to the same goal! -cj
Best to you -
CJ

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Watermark, Copyright mark, opaque and transparent words

Watermark, Copyright mark, opaque and transparent words
create one of the below options on an image. OR create a new file with just your watermark and save it to a safe place on your computer.  Then, when you have another artwork to label, just open the image and the watermark file, copy the watermark file then paste it on the image, adjust placement and then on to the next image.

OPAQUE Watermark:
No frills opaque signature/watermark for your images in Photoshop cs2

1. Open image
2. Select type tool
3. Select type color, size, style
4. click mouse on face of image and drag to desired size
5. type copyright symbol [ALT]+ 0169 and artist name
6. move to desired position on image

TRANSPARENT, etc.  Watermark:
Make transparent signature/watermark
1. On open image, select the type tool and black type color.
2. click on image and drag to create type/text box.
3. Type the Copyright symbol using [ALT]+ 0169, then type artist name.
4. Highlight the text and scroll through the fonts and font size to pick desired style.
5. Move the text block to desired position.
6. Across the top of the screen click "layers" then click "layer styles"
7. Change the text "layers" Blending options and click "LIGHTEN" (text will disappear).
8. Click on the layer "style" icon at bottom of palette and select drop shadow. The text will reappear transparent within outline shadows.
9. Experiment by adding other blending style options: emboss, glow, etc. for other effects.

Below are some examples on an image of several of the items described above.

WHY PROTECT YOUR IMAGES?

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Orphaned Images

Did you know your images can become lost on the internet and then be scooped up by some stock photo sites or similar entities?

 Or simply used by anyone because they appear to have no owner... i.e. "Orphaned photos"

 You may think no one would want your art pics, family images or snapshots of your vacation, etc. but that is not always true.

 Search engines pick up everything posted on the internet - photos, blogs, whatever. 
Blog entries usually come with your name attached - but photos may come to search engines as what is called "orphaned photos"

  What is this and why should you care?
Ever do a google search and find random images that appear to no longer have an owner but they are posted on numerous sites?
 Even maybe on pinterest or on FB after they have been shared to the nth degree?

 Photo images especially are being ripped out of context all the time.
You may not care until you wonder if your family vacation photos are being used/sold.
 What about that sweet image of your precious pet, child or grandchild.

 You can protect yourself (a little) by placing a watermark or copyright statement on every image before you post it.

Yes, it seems like a bother - and only you can decide how important it is to keep your photos attributed to YOU!

 This is a huge issue for professional photographers but it also trickles down to occasional users and bloggers who post personal or family photos.

 Here is an article to create a simple copyright or watermark image for your individual jpgs. LINK: Create Watermarks / Copyright

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