Additionally, there's the stop and go that takes place in my studio.
Knowing when to stop can be hard.
Picking up a brush to keep going when going feels impossible is hard, but knowing when not to pick up a brush and go again is often the hardest.
Today I enjoyed a softness as I painted. In the middle of a very busy day, painting was a welcome harbor of timelessness. Brush strokes felt loose and easy. I lost myself happily in the gentle adventure. At a certain point I blinked awake, so to speak, and said out loud to myself, stop.
I put my brushes down, closed up my stay-wet palette, stepped back to look at my canvas one more time from a distance …
… and picked up a brush again.
Uh oh.
As I went to add a touch of increased brightness, I literally said aloud, This could wreck everything. But, happily, after a few quick satisfying flourishes I stopped. Again.
This time I got as far as photographing the painting and uploading it to my computer before I decided to add just one more little touch.
So risky.
Then I really did stop.
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| Crossroads Pond, Jonesport 6x6", acrylic on canvas board nature 2015 |
2 comments:
Lovely :) I've enjoyed seeing the landscape paintings the last few days. Interesting strategy to turn the photo upside-down ... also liked hearing about adding a bit of each color to all parts of the painting ... lovely outcomes all around!
Thanks for your comments, Meg! "Crossroads" was fun to paint. I almost named it "Jay's Pond" because he'd indicated once he might like me to paint a pond, and I took the reference photo with him in mind. Baby steps, baby steps with seeing shapes and colors instead of objects. I appreciate your support and encouragement!
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