Painting Conundrums

Here is some painting I've been working on in the last two days.



This is a Mission we visited during Easter in San Antonio, Texas. The sky was a very deep blue and the sun was very bright. I was trying to capture it here. My sky didn't take exactly as I had hoped. I was working on the back side of 140lb wc paper in my sketchbook. I try to paint on both sides of the paper when I'm practicing. The back side tends to repel the paint so its harder to lay down a wash.









This is a picture of the road in front of the cabin where we are now. I took it last year in the fall. The sunlight was very intense thru the trees. I decided to make some changes when I started painting. I wanted a more afternoon light feel with some shadow play on the road.

I got frustrated with it so I still have work to do and changes to make. The road seems to climbing into the sky so I'll have to fix that and the shadow play doesn't look right. I will watch the road this afternoon to get it right. I also have to unmask the birch tree trunks and fill in the details there. I'll post it when its done.

I wasn't going to post these as I wasn't exactly thrilled with them, but then I got thinking. I started this blog to motivate myself to paint everyday......I also started it to chronicle learning to paint which means the good and the bad. I tend to learn more from the bad parts anyway. So I'll try to show it, all warts included. Who knows maybe I'll start a "Mistakes Monday" group to share the angst.
I do know that I have learned that watercolor is not an all or nothing medium. You can try to fix things. It just usually helps to spend some time away from your painting and then come back with "fresh eyes".


If I can tear the kids away from their embroidery I hope to have a new craft tutorial soon.

later
gail