Musings of a Rank Beginner

My painting a day program lasted for one day. There is a variety of reasons for this:
1) Sometimes I just don't feel like it
2) the bathroom project has been too loud, too messy and too uncertain and
3) I like using a LOT of water and wait for each layer to dry before I start another one. This results in paintings in various stages of completion scattered all over.
Now I can see why artists long to have their own studios….

It's very difficult to know when to stop--another reason why one layer at a time works for me. I have given up for the moment on landscapes. There's too much going on and I have too much to learn. You might recognize last week's blip in today's--a single German Iris.

Painting is a lot like cooking. Sometimes a dish can be rescued, but most of the time it just goes from bad to worse and its better to just start over. Knowing when it's worth a try and when it's a waste of time is the trick.

Painting is also a bit like writing. Sometimes it flows, and sometimes just getting started is really difficult. There's a lot of mental conversation, self doubt, and excuse making in the process. Forcing yourself to do it when you don't feel like it never works. Maybe that's why so many painters drink!

When making art is involved, using a brush, or even a pencil is entirely different from anything I'm used to doing with them. Brush strokes should be relaxed and complete. I've noticed painters holding their arms out straight, holding the brush or pencil halfway down the handle, keeping their wrists straight. They never seem to go back over a line they've drawn. (I loved trying to draw a simple still life in three minutes without lifting the pencil from the paper. Trying was definitely the operative word.)

Painting is about suggestion not making a realistic copy. Figuring out how to do that is the fun part.

Once I figured out how I wanted to go about things, I find I'm starting to enjoy it. All I need is another thing I feel compelled to do every day.