I have destroyed 4 paintings this week. Not torn up, just worked to death because of little

[GreenPartyVoter]

imperfections which got worse with each panicked attempt. Will be glad when this cycle of self-destruction passes through. Also wish meds for this stuff worked better. I don't want to be a stereotypical tortured artist.

On the plus side, I painted in my 80lb sketchpad, and I like how it went. I like that I took the time to make some studies. In retrospect, more studies on painting the white wicker might have been good. I think I captured some pretty delicious light in spots, and I like my composition.

Anyway, there's a story behind the buoys.

"Two family buoys in my faux wicker rocker. One hung around Nana's kitchen all day, the other worked for a living."

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Have you considered working in oils?

I've found oil painting to be a lot less frustrating than water colors because you can always fix a mistake - just let it dry and paint over it. I've got a couple of paintings that I really don't like how they turned out, but I didn't throw them away; at some point I'm just going to go back over them and redo some things. The negative aspect is that oil paint is messy, but I like not having to give up and toss something I've worked on.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Thought about it. I love some aspects of watercolor

that I can't achieve elsewhere. I might split the difference with gouache.

[LiberalLoner]

16. I second the idea for a different media. Watercolor is famously unforgiving

Last edited Wed May 27, 2020, 07:02 AM - Edit history (1)

And I truly think you would be so much happier with acrylics or oils. Gouache is almost as hard as watercolor, to be honest. You have so much talent and really these paintings are lovely, I just wish you happiness instead of frustration is all.

[femmocrat]

3. I used to tell my students, "There is no such thing as perfect in art."

Some of them would get so frustrated that they would cry. We can always learn from our "mistakes.”
BYW, I do like that second chair!

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. Thank you. I was debating whether or not to ink the chair, but

the shadows rendered it moot.

[marble falls]

4. Especially with unforgiving water color, if the juice isn't there, working it harder won't ..

make it flow. Sometimes its better to get the pencil out and see if you can get a line to start talking to you.

I think I see some frustration in there.

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. If we were at Hogwarts, the chair shadow would be screaming. LOL

[marble falls]

8. Art is a fickle beast!

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. Sure is!

[bif]

7. I feel your pain.

That's one of the problems I have. Knowing when to quit!

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. Yep. Just one more--dammit!!!

[lunatica]

9. My best work has come from failing at first

If you haven’t learned something about painting from what only you believe are failures then you aren’t capitalizing on one of the most powerful ways to learn.

Acknowledging that your failures are your best teacher is to be open to exploring and growing. It is to be fearless in your journey. Otherwise you just run around being fearful and only staying in your proven comfort zone. Artists should never stay stuck. Especially when they FEEL stuck.

I know you want to let yourself explore spontaneity and wildness because you told me so. Maybe that side of you is trying to manifest in these paintings.

In the last painting with what looks like a wicker armchair you have done some really interesting things. It reminds me strongly of Matisse’s paintings because of the way you are treating all the edges of your canvas. Everything except the armchair is a view of a partial depiction of a larger room. And your attention to all the squares and rectangles running off the page and back onto the page is beautiful, architectural, and in sharp contrast to the rounded gracefulness of the armchair and it’s shadow. The viewer’s eye is invited to travel all around the scene by being guided by the dynamic composition. The chair is dead center on the page, holding its own among all the strong rectangles around it. I think your subconscious is doing the very thing you wanted. Trying to break your self imposed rules. The way I see it this painting works very well. Does it need work? Yes. I urge you to take another look at it, taking into account that it has something to teach you. Don’t worry about “fixing“ it. You have many blank canvases waiting.

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. This one is going in the try again pile. Too many lovely bits to give

up on it. The camera picked some of the composition. Interestingly, I was only going to do the chair on a soft background, but when I looked at my porch again in the early morning light I knew I needed to get the whole scene. But those lovely long shadows, I grabbed some indanthrone and didn't test it on scrap first...

I was going to do my usual inking of the subject, especially since it's a white chair. But, maybe I won't after all.

[KatyMan]

13. What are the items on the chair?

?

[GreenPartyVoter]

14. Lobster buoys. :)

[KatyMan]

15. Thanks!

Don't see that sort of thing out here in far west Houston.

[LiberalLoner]

17. Your post makes so much sense

My biggest jumps in growth and understanding always come after periods of intense frustration and wanting to quit altogether. Not that I’m advanced or anything, but I’m better than when I first Started.

[lunatica]

19. Once you stop feeling frustrated you'll

start seeing the possibilities in your mistakes. And a bonus is that if you allow yourself to appreciate the results of even small “happy accidents” you’ll learn even more. Sometimes a small accident can lead you into a totally new direction.

Another result is that you also learn what not to do, which many times means stop painting because overworking it is ruining everything worse.

[LiberalLoner]

18. I have to say I really like your work

And see so much talent.

Do you also have some really nice watercolor paper like arches to do your final paintings on?