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This practice thing is going to be on-going for a very long time.  One might say, it never stops!

I said there were many unfinished canvases in my studio, and I was planning on finishing them.  The more they sat there, the more I started to think, “If they haven’t said anything so far, maybe even they don’t know where to go with themselves!”  So I grabbed a second unfinished painting, and gessoed  over it.  Ha! I’ll show it!  Gessoed over it very lightly, so the under layer of a mix of Quinacridone Burnt Orange, and Quinacridone Gold still showed through in places.  Then the sky came to life with some light blue, and next but not last, I lightly brushed in some violet, orange, and yellow.   That ‘s just the sky!

Now the trees!

The larger trees were already roughed in with tissue paper, so my decision to paint trees was already made.  I just followed through, and added some more trees, but decided to emphasize the bigger trees since they were standing out in the first place.  No big decisions there!  At some point, my thoughts have gone to, “Enough time wasted on this, let’s get down to business!”  While I love to keep playing with my trees, I also want to decide on what to do next, and start something else!

My ideas are all over the place, and usually I tend to jump in feet first, sink or swim……usually sink!  It would be nice to do a little more planning for the next one.  The funny thing is, I love the spontaneity of not knowing where I’m going, or how I’ll get there. I love letting the painting take the lead, with Happy Accidents at the finish of the painting!  The very thing I love the most, is the very thing that trips me up the most!  Is it the planning that is the problem, or is it the subject matter?  Or, am I not listening?

How many of you have the same problem, or do you have answers that I hadn’t thought of?  Let me know because I’ve been struggling here, and someone must have answers….

The trees are speaking……

After playing with lighting, and watching my trees, I pretty much decided to keep playing with them.  My trees are not finished, but still need shadows, more lights, and darks!

While I’m finishing up my trees, I’m also getting ready for another class.  This class will be all day at ArtBeat on Main Street.  This is a fairly new gallery in the heart of Vista, Ca,  that took me by surprise when I walked in.  The ladies that own tArtBeat are down to earth, and easy to know.  They seem to have put together a gallery rarely seen in this area!  It really belongs further south in Del Mar, or La Jolla.  It’s that classy!  So when my friend, and artsy sister said she was taking this class, at her urging I checked it out, and was pleasantly surprised.  The artist teaching will be Scott W. Prior, an artist well known in the art community.

We’ll talk…