Recently I was going back through old discarded paintings and realized that although I had inserted an ugly, poorly painted moth into the center of a painting of daisies, the balance of the painting was nicely done. There are nice transitions from light to dark in the background, interesting color blends, and I had done a good job of lifting out the background to add the soft pink petals. Not something worthy of an award, but something that deserved saving.
Many times when I do this I conclude repainting is the only solution. Occasionally I think I can work on the painting some more and give it new life. In this case, I decided to crop the painting into several smaller paintings and washed out fragments of the moth that remained toward the edges. Then I added back in some dark colors to form interesting background shapes and strengthened the contrast between the flowers and background in other areas.
I almost hate to show you the original, since it really is from the "way back machine" and nothing like my current work. But how do you teach if you don't show the starting point? So here goes...
Don't ask me what I was thinking when I added the moth. Actually, I may have done this painting after visiting a Garden that had a Butterfly Museum. I believe I decided the painting should pull from the gardens and the museum. NOT a good decision, at least not how I executed the moth. It looks stuck on and misshapen.
So here is what I have done now.
Many times when I do this I conclude repainting is the only solution. Occasionally I think I can work on the painting some more and give it new life. In this case, I decided to crop the painting into several smaller paintings and washed out fragments of the moth that remained toward the edges. Then I added back in some dark colors to form interesting background shapes and strengthened the contrast between the flowers and background in other areas.
I almost hate to show you the original, since it really is from the "way back machine" and nothing like my current work. But how do you teach if you don't show the starting point? So here goes...
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| Original Sunny Daisies circa 2002 |
Don't ask me what I was thinking when I added the moth. Actually, I may have done this painting after visiting a Garden that had a Butterfly Museum. I believe I decided the painting should pull from the gardens and the museum. NOT a good decision, at least not how I executed the moth. It looks stuck on and misshapen.
So here is what I have done now.
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| Sunny Daisy I |
Sunny Daisy I
watercolor
8.5" X 7.5" image
16" X 20" mat
$85
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| Sunny Daisy II |
Sunny Daisy II
watercolor
4.5" X 6.5" image
8" X 10" wood frame
$100
 |
| Sunny Daisy III |
Sunny Daisy III
watercolor
4.5" X 6.5" image
8" X 10" wood frame
$100
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