- George Moore
I'm going to take solace in the fact that I don't think my bad painting is like anyone else's bad painting!
I felt like working in my art journal a little bit more tonight. I have been putting off painting a sunflower for awhile because they intimidate me. During my last 30 in 30 challenge I was actually encouraged by several people to paint a local field of sunflowers, but I chickened out. So, tonight I Googled sunflowers and found a photo I thought might be something simple to start with.
I knew when I started sketching the petals that I was in trouble. Doing this in pen and ink first was probably one of many mistakes. There is absolutely nothing natural about the petals on this poor, poor flower. I'm just glad the composition only included about half of the darned things.
Not a great start to my sunflower journey, but I should think positive - it IS a start at least.
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| Sunflower |
As long as I was torturing myself today with the petals on the orchid earlier and the petals on the sunflower, why not make it a trifecta and torture myself with some more bamboo leaves?
I went ahead and turned to the next page and cranked out some quick bamboo. I did not grind my own ink this time, I just went ahead and used ivory black from my watercolor palette. The paper in the journal soaked it up so the whole painting ended up fairly light.
Overall it is not a good composition, but I felt like I got a few leaves right anyway. So I'm going to consider it a victory.
Hopefully, each time I paint bamboo I will get maybe one more leaf right, and my hit percentages will increase. I would like to get to about 30-40% with my leaves by the end of 2014. That would make me ecstatic!
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| Bamboo |
So, overall not the greatest work to share. But if I am going to share my journey to learning to be an artist, I have to share everything, the highs and the lows, the good and the bad. Because that's the way any authentic journey goes.
Any journey worth taking anyway.
And this is a blog worth reading! Thanks for giving me so many smiles this evening. I like how you talk about your journey. You remind me of someone. I love the bamboo, but not sure what you're looking for in your work...
ReplyDeleteYou know what - I'm not 100% sure what I am looking for in my work either. When I look at the bamboo created by experience painters, it just seems so RELAXED and mine seems so STIFF.
ReplyDeleteIts funny, the first thing I always tell new martial arts students is not to compare themselves to anyone else in class - to just concentrate on doing the best they are capable of.
I think I need to take my own advice! :)