I'm trying hard to practice a fast, energetic start.
The kind where bravery and confidence just
pour out onto the canvas and the paint oozes enthusiasm for
the subject at hand. BUT such
a beginning requires a careful, thoughtful finish,
a very critical eye and a lot of patience.
As I said: I'm trying!
30" x 24" oil on canvas
I was fairly certain this piece was finished. But how does one know? Perhaps I was tired of it.
It's hard to tell but when you are left with a "something's not right" feeling it's best to stop work and take a loooong break.
Staring at it at this stage I made a specific list of "to-do's" needed. The scene was fairly believable and after some lightening (see first illustration) and color enhancement, I was just plain stumped. But again....that gut feeling....
I had to be away from the studio for about four days so put it out of my mind...or so I thought. Apparently my subconscience was working overtime as one night I woke right up with a possible solution: lighten up the foreground trees. I could hardly wait to get back to the easel and experiment.
"Lay Me Down Like a River Tonight"
Subtle, very subtle. The rationale that came to me slowly is that when we view a scene from life that is back lit we still see plenty of colors in the foreground. They are darker than the directly lit areas but it is the camera that forces those objects to appear almost black. It just didn't "read" properly in my mind. While I had wet paint I cranked up some of the colorations in the lightest areas, organized a few limbs and did some pruning.
detail close up showing texture and color
For the record there is no black per se on this piece. I mix the darkest areas (as opposed to using the color black) so they are more interesting...but again, sometimes in a reproduced photo on a blog, the darks read black.
Whew boy....this is not to say that I might not find something that needs correcting next week. A fresh eye is the best way to spot what's needed after spending such intensive time on one piece. In fact, I recently added a little glitz to the painting I shared last week before popping it in a frame.
So when people ask how long it takes to make a painting, do they really want to hear about those hours spent in self-critique or the nights my asleep-brain grapples with a problem? Probably not.
Slow and Easy,
Cindy
p.s. This week I am in Oregon working on a new form of art: house construction! A gang of fun ladies is spending the week on a Habitat for Humanity Build learning all kinds of new skills. My husband comes out to join me at week's end and we are headed to explore the wild coast of Oregon. So I won't be sending an art update next Friday...it feels odd as I love the discipline of not missing a week. But let's change it up. Enjoy your weekend and I'll be back soon with, hopefully, some new thoughts.
