Since January 1, 2022
-- when one of my studio heaters kaputzed and it was impossible to find another after a very cold christmas, so I removed my acrylics (which must not freeze) into the house, but wanted to work in the studio even though it was cold --
I have been painting with oils, which are less temperature-sensitive.
Solvent-free!
A real learning process for me.
After some sucesses with smaller canvases, I went larger, and have run into problems. Go figure. *laughs*
This painting, for example....
... began with a really well composed drawing.
This is not easy for me to do on a large scale, and I was feeling quite good about it.
(it's 38 x 68", or 95 x 175 cm)
Under the darker lines, there are paler lines.
When applying the colour, I decided to follow some of those paler lines.
Yeah, not such a good idea.
Why not? Well....
It's busy, no focus, no smooth leading of the eye: lack of flow!
The pattern is too evenly spaced: homeostatic conditions!
I lost sight of the big picture, of the elegance and simplicity of the initial drawing.
Defeated by size.
I could not see these problems, and fudged around with ir for a long time.
Nothing worked, things only got worse.
Until....
I read this newsletter
! AHA !
So I ran the image through photoshop.
My pruning was ruthless.
Now I know more-or-less what to do with it in the studio.
Sweet relief.
Thank you Robert Genn, and Photoshop.
And thank you, dear Reader, for reading.
Perhaps some of you will find this post useful.
p.s.: I did eventually find another heater, so I'm no longer painting in the cold.
:)
6 comments:
Hiya… interesting to see the process & look forward to someday viewing the finished & more compositionally robust painting. Genn always did have something worth reading! ~Russell
Thank you Russell. I should be able to work on it tomorrow, so you may indeed see it at a more developed stage (or possibly finished) depending on when you next pass through. Always look forward to our visits.
:)
V
Sometimes I think as artists we are defeated by useless rules.
No one has ever painted like you. No one. So anyone else's rules about what you should do, don't apply. I love the one you were worried about, and will love whatever you do.
I so understand being stopped, and I also get how someone else's words can help.(Ironically given what I just said) Yours do. On my current painting, watching another artist's video gave me that AHA moment.
Love your work.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO Barbara
Hi Barbara,
Oh yes, I would agree with both of your points. I think the best use of "rules" is to ignore them until you run into problems, and then sometimes they can help resolve the problem. This is how I use my colour wheel, too!
Isn't it wonderful how we have so many creative ways of problem-solving? We can't live entirely without rules, but we can modify existing rules to suit a situation, or simply make our own!
Love your work, and your words on your blog
xoxoxo
V
Thank you Verna,
I hope the world situation improves in every respect and we can get to see one another again.
XOXOXOXOXOXO Barbara
Yes, I hope that too, very deeply.
xoxoxoxo
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