Keeping Me Humble....

Well, they don't always turn out to be masterpieces.
I knew this rule, I just hoped it didn't apply to me!

I used to struggle and keep going over and over a faltering painting trying to get it right, but have found that this only results (for me) in a stilted, belabored artwork. Not fresh or clean. One that I am never happy with. One that sits in the back of my mind haunting me.

I decided I wanted to see what would happen if I laid down a strong bright wash to paint on. Yellow is a color I don't use often (I lean toward ochres and oranges rather than yellow) so I decided to experiment.

All I could say when I saw this was, "My eyes!! My eyes!!"

After a few washes of color to block in the shapes, the yellow was still glaring and I was getting a headache.

Since I was having a hard time stepping up to the easel - the word "dread" comes to mind - I decided to be bold and wipe this image from the canvas, and hopefully, my mind.

I took a rag, dipped it in mineral spirits, and wiped the whole surface.

Then made a new sketch:

The horizon line is a tad lower and the whole thing feels better.......maybe that is just because the piercing yellow is gone.

I haven't given up on the idea of "yellow" so I decided to make the sky a yellow rather than the standard blue.

Add more color variations, but try to stay in the value range needed to convey space and shape.


Value: the lightness or darkness of a hue.

Space: Area within the paintings edges, specifically including depth...3D space.

Shape: created by use of color, value, edges.

Delaware Water Gap  11" x 14"

More color variations pushing the background further back and adding detail to the foreground.


This is a trail up in the Delaware Water Gap. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, though it is still a little "fussy".
( I'm still trying to loosen up.)








So, I have decided that after making a valiant effort and doing my best,  if the painting is still heading in a wrong direction I will simply discard it (or wipe away the image) and start fresh.
Nothing is wasted because I probably learned something...even if it is only what doesn't work... and more important is that I love to paint, so I enjoyed doing it. That is not a waste.