Skip to main content

Asian Pear, Flinching, and Repeating Mistakes

I hesitated before, during and after this painting was done. Before I started, I procrastinated while I tried to figure out how to approach painting this unique fruit. During the painting my brain asked, "are you really going to paint another fruit?". And when it was all done, I wondered if I should even bother posting it.

Look at this thing - it's flat, over-worked, unintentionally splotchy (except the areas where I used salt to create the splotchy effect intentionally), and the colors are completely off. It took me forever to finally just sit down and do it, and I sort of hate it. It looks like I stepped backward somehow.

That's my initial reaction, anyway. If I really felt like that, I don't think I would be able to continue on as an artist. I made some mistakes here and there, and they resulted in something I don't really care for. But I want to step away for a while, mix up some fresh paint, and try it again. Maybe I'll try something different. Maybe I'll fail again in a different way.

This is why art is frustrating. This is why art isn't for everyone. This is why art is something I love.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ferret

Trying out a challenge to myself - to create "finished" pieces with a limited color palette on a consistent schedule. I am still working out the final guidelines. I think I would like to challenge myself to use a new texture in each piece as well. I've had this unfinished sketch in my sketchbook forever. Even though I'm not entirely happy with it - it feels great to finally have it done!

A Competent Profile

As I start to become more familiar with proportions and measurements for the various faces I attempt to draw, I am starting to wonder how to make a more complete portrait with my limited time. Do I stick to lines? Do I bring a brush and some ink? Which lines should I include? Which shapes are important to represent? Maybe this is a good time to look at the work other artists have done and try to work out some of their methods.

Rules and requirements (mostly for me)

Initially, I was taking a look at my scanner for the maximum dimensions of a painting. I realize now that archiving paintings is a bit more involved than posting 300x300 pixel GIFs. So, some of these pieces will need to be photographed. Others will be scanned (provided the paper doesn't curl too badly). Here is the rough draft of my proposed project: I will create 2-3 finished watercolor pieces every week for the year 2014 The minimum dimensions for each piece will be 4x6" (no maximum) Materials list: Watercolor paint (in tubes or cakes), watercolor pencils, brushes, India Ink, bamboo pen, white gouache, and gold paint pen. Subject matter will change with every painting. I know there is a lot a person can learn from painting the same subject over and over, but this is not that project. New paintings will be posted on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Expect extra posts to occur between those days. Since the whole purpose of this project is to learn, I plan on reading and resear...