AN EXTRA BRUSHSTROKE OR TWO

Some adjustments were made to this painting Thursday evening. The tall pillars, as well as some of the water areas, were darkened. More shadows and cracks were added to the building because I just didn't want to stop working on this painting. Some small dots of Cobalt Teal Blue were spotted here and there to add interest when viewed up close. The balcony grill work was adjusted, too, as well as that overhang above it. Gotta call it quits on this for sure or I'll fall back into my old ways of overkill. Can you see the slight differences the minor changes made? It's done.

EMPTY NEST???

Recently something unexpected has happened in my painting process. In times past, once a painting was about half done, I 'd often lose interest in painting it and have to push myself to stay with it. Occasionally I'd wish someone else would just complete the picture for me.

Lately I've discovered that I actually don't want a painting to be finished because I'll miss working on it. Is there such a thing an '''''empty nest syndrome''''' for painters? This post is one of the paintings that I didn't want to 'grow up and leave home.'

For the past several months, the entire process of planning, painting, and adjusting paintings has been invigorating and exciting. It's fun to see how the next part will look, to find out what would happen if... and I've certainly not been in my usual rush to finish works in progress. Even though I presently have a couple more paintings already in the planning and painting stages, I'll miss not getting to 'visit my brush' on the one that just got completed. Is that weird or not?

"SERENADE" Fluid Acrylics on 140#HP Arches 30 x 19"

PLANNING AHEAD

Wednesday's class last week included a holiday luncheon at a nearby restaurant overlooking the lake. But before we left for lunch, we had time for a demo as well as critique time of works some of the artists had brought in from their studios.

This photo reference from our trip to Italy has several minor details changed to help improve the composition. The chimney was reversed and moved to the left to make the division of space more comfortable and the perspective seem correct. That roof line has been straightened, too, at the top and bottom edges. Click on each picture to see the details if you like.

There's 'junk' in the photo on the center right that's been turned into building surface, and the picture is narrower, with measurements that follow the golden mean and Phi.

Notice the distant hills and how that horizon line has been adjusted, too, to bring more focus on the buildings. Although I loved the palm fronds on the upper left, they were changed to repeat the look of the foliage on the right so they wouldn't draw too much attention. The long lines of the fronds seem to steal focus from the roof tiles.

All the planning ahead of time used to bother me because I wasn't painting. Now I relish the planning, organizing, and rearranging of the composition and enjoy having several future paintings in the planning stages.

It's rewarding to take a decent photo and try to make it better before painting the scene. (But it didn't used to be...it was a struggle for a long time.) Plus, all that time spent studying the photo and drawing helps me know the subject better. 'They say' the better you know something, the better you can paint it. They may be right.

This painting took less than two hours to actually paint. However, the planning and drawing involved at least six hours, plus it took a long while to fly to Italy to get that picture!

"SMELL THE CAPPUCCINO?" Transparent Watercolor on 140# CP Arches 13 x 19.5"