At the edge
Posted: March 13, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized 10 CommentsPosting a sketch a day can be a challenge because sometimes what I paint is just not good enough for public viewing. Usually when that happens it’s because I overworked the painting or I got too finicky with it and it lost its freshness (like the first one I did today!!). Last week I described one solution which was to do something completely different and give yourself a time limit of ten minutes. Today I found a another solution. Start a new sketch but with a brush that is too big for what you’re painting. That way you can’t get caught up in the details. For this painting in my smallest Moleskine (3″ x 5″) I used a very big round brush (#10) and only went to a smaller one when I painted some of the texture in the grass.
Huh-huh 😉 this means that I will have to buy more brushes as I only have ‘a #5 one’…
Don’t buy anything yet Jane! Paint with it for a while and see…
I find it very comforting that an artist of your quality still has moments when you’ve overworked or over-painted a subject.
This happens more often than I talk about Valerie. Mostly I just turn the page in my sketchbook and do another one.
Some days I can’t decide whether your posts are really encouraging or just plain depressing for an aspiring sketcher like me… today is one of those days! Give me a break, Shari. Just 10 minutes and an over-sized brush! Did you really need to tell us that? : )
I didn’t say this one took 10 minutes. That was the other day. I just said my new solution was to use a big brush. This one took a bit longer — more like 30 minutes.
Well, that makes me feel just soooo much better! Such a relief to know that you took a whole 30!!! minutes. Perhaps tomorrow you should set yourself the challenge of 20 minutes with the over-sized brush held in your teeth or toes. : )
How about blindfolded?
As someone with no brushes, or even paint, I can simply enjoy the beauty captured here without any performance anxiety. 🙂 Thank you for continuing to find the colourful magic in the everyday, and sharing it with us.
Performance anxiety is a good term to describe the feeling on some days Alison. I’m so glad to read your comments here!