After about a six-week break from painting, it feels so, so good to be back at it. I made a pretty decent mess yesterday, pastels everywhere, dust smudges all over, nothing organized, and it felt great.
Today I painted the third piece in a landscape series. Any teacher worth their salt will tell you there is immeasurable value in painting a series, so many benefits from visiting the same subject again and again. Think Marla Baggetta's "100 Variations."
I never really intended to paint a series. The first piece I painted about six months ago, a virtual copy of the reference photo. Technically the painting is successful, but I find the finished result, well, a little boring. I think on some level I knew that there is more to painting than mere replication.
The second piece, done a couple months back, was a significant breakthrough in color for me. I have for so long been intimidated by color, scared to paint anything other than what I saw. The truth and nothing but the truth! Here I finally tried something different. I started by choosing colors for an underpainting that might heighten the final palette, and liked what was happening so much that I ended up adopting those colors as the palette.
The third piece is a mini, just 2.5 x 3.5. Working small is hard! Never have my fingers and pastel sticks felt bigger, and I was nearly crossed-eyed by the time I was done. Again I went beyond my comfort zone with color, choosing a palette independent of the image. Overall it's a cool effect, despite some value and composition issues with the shoreline.
Without realizing it, I'm three-deep into a series. The best part is that I want to keep going, to paint at least a couple more versions, to see where I can go with different palettes and formats. Stay tuned!
Today I painted the third piece in a landscape series. Any teacher worth their salt will tell you there is immeasurable value in painting a series, so many benefits from visiting the same subject again and again. Think Marla Baggetta's "100 Variations."
I never really intended to paint a series. The first piece I painted about six months ago, a virtual copy of the reference photo. Technically the painting is successful, but I find the finished result, well, a little boring. I think on some level I knew that there is more to painting than mere replication.
The second piece, done a couple months back, was a significant breakthrough in color for me. I have for so long been intimidated by color, scared to paint anything other than what I saw. The truth and nothing but the truth! Here I finally tried something different. I started by choosing colors for an underpainting that might heighten the final palette, and liked what was happening so much that I ended up adopting those colors as the palette.
The third piece is a mini, just 2.5 x 3.5. Working small is hard! Never have my fingers and pastel sticks felt bigger, and I was nearly crossed-eyed by the time I was done. Again I went beyond my comfort zone with color, choosing a palette independent of the image. Overall it's a cool effect, despite some value and composition issues with the shoreline.
Without realizing it, I'm three-deep into a series. The best part is that I want to keep going, to paint at least a couple more versions, to see where I can go with different palettes and formats. Stay tuned!