Now for some shocking news on the demonstration. Last night after posting I went into the studio and took another look at the painting. I HATED IT! I know when my work is not up to par and this painting belonged in the "something is wrong" category. Years ago, Greg Kruetz told me. . ."when something is wrong with your painting, diddling with it isn't going to help. Be brave and make major changes." This is a paraphrase. So I took my palette knife and scraped back the area that was bothering me which was the jug on the left side. Then I wiped it off and repainted it with a fast drying white. This morning I took another look and felt better. The next decision was what was I going to put in its place. Nothing! I liked the space it created and so just added the fabric of the quilt that was already there. I think what was bothering me was it was too crowded. See what you think.
Because the white fabric paint was wet, I will have to wait to add the red squares. My next focus was on the coffee grinder. To give the wood an old weathered look, I dry brushed grayish browns and blues onto its surface.
Wow! Good for you!
ReplyDeleteI personally liked it before - the jug was never taken to completion, or even in the focus area, so am not sure what the finished piece would have been like, but I go with trusting you, the artist, on this one and I certainly like what I see now. Your work is at such a high caliber I am delighted to see you make major changes during the process.
I am so pleased you are sharing it with us all.
I've tried to figure out what bothered me about the original composition and can only guess at this point. The jug was huge. Even though it was a light value my eye kept focusing on it. The real lesson for me here is to work out all the compositional and color problems before I put brush to canvas. I was in a hurry to get started and that (for me) is never good. To struggle publicly is a little embarrassing. Someone close to me said that next time do it ahead of time and post it after it is finished. Nevertheless, it is what it is and I really appreciate your comments. Stay tuned for me!
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