This morning I was watching my dear friend, Buck Paulson, teach on PBS, and I was struck by how he blocks in the beginnings of his landscape with such looseness and at the same time energy! And finally the light went on - my teacher always says to me "why do you try to finish your painting before you've even started?" Wow - she is so right. I'm always doing paint-by-numbers in the early phases, trying to capture details and highlights before I really get a solid start and lay the foundation.
Truly, I think I do paint best from my own photographs (like Beth's Flowering Plum, in my previous post) undoubtedly because in my memory is every depth of how the scene looked in full dimension, what was the temperature, the sounds around me and the smells! How did it really feel? That's how you get a painting that elicits real emotion from a viewer!
So today while I'm thinking about my next work and how I will try to actually start before I finish, I'm also reminded of a painting that I "finished" but haven't signed because I know there is something wrong. Guess what I did? I tried to start..............after I was finished. Can you see the mistake? I wonder if you can tell? Let me know...........
PS - the name of this piece is "Freedom", for a piece of knowledge I received during the time I painted her, and for my attempt at trying to loosen up a bit.
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