Changed my mind

You kinda knew it would happen, didn't you?

I've this little one on a shelf for a couple of months now, and I've never felt like it was really done. The landscape needed a little something. Last week, I was looking at a pair of older paintings, both sky pics like these, and way down on the ground in one of them were little buildings like these. I sketched some in and liked how they anchored the painting and brought some much needed balance. I'll probably fuss with it some more, but I think it is nearly complete. I've been borrowing from myself quite a bit lately. I like the partnership :)

    I'm still trying to solve the same sort of problem in the tornado painting. I keep trying solutions, but so far, none have really done it. The poor thing has suffered for my indecision, too. I hope I can settle on it, soon. At least I have the luxury of not being in a hurry. I never make good work when I rush.

    

Unflappable

Well, another day, another shooting. How did we get to such an ugly place?

   I think I'm pretty much done with this little painting, although I won't swear I won't mess with the clouds a bit more. In the beginning, I had fully intended to put a leak in her boat. But, things are so terrible out there right now, especially for women and anyone who is different, I didn't have the heart to add to her burden. Besides, she seems pretty unflappable. If she did get a leak, I imagine her plugging it up straight away. Even if she had to use her hair to do it.

I have another pair of stretchers this size, ready to make another little painting.
Maybe I should do some portraits of more unflappable women.

The Fussy Stage

    She's so tiny! I'm at the fussing over tiny bits of paint and value stage. Tomorrow, I'll fix the oars and try to give the boat more of a shine. 

 
   I'd forgotten how much fun it was to paint clouds.The poor mermaid has been going without a head or much of a tail while I try to figure these out. Lucky for me, the clouds at my house have been big and grand lately. Every time I go outside I get treated to a cloud lesson.
    When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time looking at clouds and making pictures out of them. I've had to resist making pictures too obvious in these. For the longest time, I kept seeing a puppy in the lower  left cloud structure. It was a bit of a struggle to change it so I couldn't see it anymore. I want them to look like they could be a thousand things, not just one.
     I think I need to lighten up the shadows on the landscape.
   

A little progress

   I've been having a lot of fun with these clouds. It's probably as close as I get to working abstractly, and it is a nice change. I'm not sure I'm a fan of the way I painted the sky this time, but again, it is a nice thing to change up my habits once in a while. I'm working on getting a layering effect to add more depth. I'm thinking about letting some of the clouds overlap the skyline, but I'm not sure just yet. Sometimes, it looks to me like she is actually on water instead of in the air. I might have to put some birds in to help her out.
   I'd say this is almost half-way finished. Like the repairman said in Toy Story, "You can't rush art".

So far

 
      Well, so far so good with switching up my method for applying paint. It's kind of refreshing to have to think about things a little differently. I like the improvisational aspect of it. I still have a slight worry about getting enough layers built up.
    Plus, two different friends suggested I add an indication of the earth at the bottom of the image, to add more depth. I sketched it in to see, and once I did that, I couldn't unsee it. So I added it with a thin layer of washes. I think I'll keep it.

Apparently, I am in the mood to change things up. First it was the linen, which I abandoned because it was too rough, And then I went back to my regular canvas, but when I put on the initial underpainting, some interesting clouds showed up in the process. It seemed a shame to cover them up as I normally would have done, so I decided to leave them and try to develop them from the get go. So far I like them well enough. My one worry is that the paint is pretty thin and that might cause more work down the road, but we'll see. This is after the third session.

Learning Curve

Well, I learned that I am not a fan of linen. I think it could be perfectly lovely, but my first attempt at it was not. It turned out to be really tricky to stretch, and while I'm sure a finer weave would have helped, the texture was too strong for the little figure I have planned. I got as far as gesso (three coats!) and a bit of the underpainting before I gave it up. I needed to sand between those coats of gesso :>/ Live and learn.
    So, last night I pulled out all of the staples and now I have a fresh start with canvas. Back in my comfort zone! I might try linen again someday, but right now, easy street is just fine with me.