Ouch! I worked at school up in King City today, then drove
home between classes to finish it up. With one hour to go I
looked at it in complete despair. The face was just not
working. What to do? My reference photos weren't
accurate enough, and I didn't have my wonderful model.
On the point of tears, I sucked it up and painted out the face.
Yup. I started the face from scratch. Not only that
I was jumping between reference photos of three different
people. So it went in tonight after I got home from driving
through a snowstorm, not as the ideal portrait I was planning,
but as the painting I had promised to the show -- The Promise.
I don't have a photo to show you, and that's just as well.
Thank goodness the nice woman on the desk at our D.V.A.C.
show said I was wrong, and that it was fine. Still, I know what
I was working towards, and unless it sells, I will still have my work
cut out for me.
In the studio
16 x 16 inches
acrylic on canvas
studio tonight to celebrate my change of pace. So here's the
(almost) finished version of that piece. Maybe the moral of the story
is, "you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes
you get what you need." (I needed a painting). Thanks to the
universe and shameless willpower I got it on time. Just.
Have a forgiving-yourself-for-being-human day.
8 comments:
this is a wonderful composition.cheers
Hi Milind,
Thanks so much. I really appreciate your support.
Take care,
Barbara
I hate it when that happens. :) Like Anna Rosanna Dana said, "It's all the time somethin". But I'd bet my last dollar your painting is just fine like the lady said. Barbara M. aint no slouch. And wiping out a face with an hour to go? Gutsy too.
Eldon
Hi Eldon,
You're so kind. It was gutsy, and
probably wrong. But hey. I think
you'd know what I meant right away.
The simple truth is that I needed more,time, and more time was not available.
Your faith in me is greatly appreciated.
Take care,
Barbara
You are one hot tamale when you go into your red mode. Love this one. Thanks for tagging me. Yea, we are in the same art blogging universe, and sometimes the tagging travels in circles. That's OK, and I'm ready to tag! Looking forward to seeing some more hot portraits from you.
Well, this one fulfills a promise. I discovered I have a bit of color blindness in the red range (unable to distinguish between some shades). But your palette is courageous, and works beautifully.
Hi David,
Thanks so much. But I think you've
cornered the hot art market. I love
your paintings, sketches and superb humour.
More portraits are coming soon. Thanks for your vote of confidence.
Take care,
Barbara
Hi Edgar,
Well this painting is pretty red -- and pink because of the antique satin dress the model was wearing. I'm glad you like it.
I've never been a value person -- so turned off by those grey studies at art college, but I hope it works for you even if the colour isn't exact.
I had one teacher who looked at every painting I did and said that what it needed was the dark darks. I guess my cat Timbah satisfies that requirement in this painting.
Sometimes I'm just painting.
Take care and keep writing and
painting,
Barbara
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