One Step at a Time

Due to some health related issues in the family, I spent the day inside the studio trying to apply a few learnings over the last couple of days. I spent a large amount of time with my nose in the books. And I think it paid off--in a small way.

I started the day mixing some paints and decided to pull out the study I did the other day at Smith Park. I figured I'd try my memory and use the study which I knew was way too intense to practice mixing greens. That simple object was met. I mixed greens that were so much better than the study. Time well spent and more learnings.
It was more to do with composition and less to do with the color mixing. Tomorrow when I head out to the park, I'm going to really focus on selecting a really good composition. Something I need to improve on and something that is so very important. If I just spend the day there sketching out shadow patterns and selecting compositions, it won't be a day wasted. Edgar Payne will be at my side--that's for sure. And yes--guess what I'll be re-reading tonight!!

I ended the day with a challenge. I pulled out a cheap canvas board which was 11X14 inches. I had a photograph of some Azelas that I wanted to paint on canvas for showing, but I need to work out some details of the painting. I spent some time mixing up some general colors that I'd grab from while covering the canvase. The challenge was to have this canvas board covered, with something that I could work from in the future, in 1 hour. Including some mixing time, I didn't want to spend anymore than an hour and a half. I succeeded doing just that and actually like the loose, painterly feeling of the flowers. Time permitting tomorrow, I'll snap a picture of it and place it in the blog for to see.

Timing yourself does a few things for me. It makes me mix colors with my brush and makes me paint looser--challenging me to think about values and edges so I don't end up with mud. It also gives you a bit of a plein air experience in that you have to paint fast outside to catch the light. Working from the photograph allowed me to not worry about the light and I knew the values I was mixing should match the intensity of the photo--so it forced me to mix what I remembered of the flowers that were outside my front door a few weeks ago.

All in all, I pleased with today's sessions and the results. I still need practice and need to push those color notes. Both build confidence. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

On a different note, I did spend some time today framing all my painting that will be in my one-woman show on from June 1-July 30th. It was nice to see them all framed. I hope everyone will enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoyed painting them.

That's all for now.
Caio,
Linda