This past Tuesday was day 3 of my painting class and day 3 for this painting. With the exception of some (minimal) detail work, I consider this painting finished. Now that is a HUGE change for me. Last year from September to mid-May, I worked on four paintings; a still life of pumpkins and gourds, stones at the edge of the lake, a beach "sketch", and a quick landscape study. That's four days a month of class, and frequently one additional day a week at home if the paint was dry enough. I don't consider any of the four "finished".
It was painfully slow, and I actually knew I was getting stuck on the details, but despite Sharon's attempts to move me on, I just couldn't get past the wall I had erected. Then on that last day, I decided to try the palatte knife for that quick landscape study from a calendar photo, and you know the results of that experiment. The palatte knife seems to be the crack in the door for me; it's certainly gotten me out of that detail rut in a hurry!
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| The Green Bottle |
Some of you have been extremely good sports by trying to guess what my painting could possibly represent. A few years ago in Vermont, we visited a farm on Darling Hill in the Northeast Kingdom. Davis and Esther, David and I wandered all over that gorgeous place and took loads of photos of all the barns and out-buildings (all painted barn red), gardens and animals, views from every vantage point and even some interiors.
This particular photo of the side of an out-building, its window, concrete wall, and the dusty green bottle on the window sill has been a favorite for some time. It seemed the perfect subject for my first serious attempt at painting with the palatte knife. The shapes are basic, the detail simple (the better to ward off my detail crazed bete-noir!), leaving the color and texture paramount. If I could capture both of those important facets, I thought I would have both answered my question about my choice of tool and a decent painting.
I have succeeded! This is a painting of which I can be proud, and I can see it hanging on a wall in my house (that's a first).
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| Detail |
It's too bad that the above photo is not very good (I'll have to ask my friend Brian to take another for me). The paint reflects the daylight in such a way that it's difficult to see the bottle. So I took another, close-up photo, not very sharp, but the bottle is more evident. It, too, was painted with the knife rather than a brush.
What do you think? After the details are final, I'm going to try to show all stages of the painting so you have a better view of the changes.
Noel, the is very successful. You have every right to be proud of it. I'm envious of what you achieved.
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