October 19, 2013

Two Still-Life paintings




"Cherub"
Oil on canvas - 11" x 14"


"Red Sash"
Oil on canvas - 20" x 24"

So I'm not necessarily the biggest fan of still-life paintings, although I acknowledge there are some really great still-life painters around with awesome skill. But when you don't always have living, breathing human beings at the ready you do what you need to do to keep painting. So here are 2 modest attempts at setting up and painting some still-lifes.

Am I happy with these? Again as usual the answer seems to be yes and no. I feel as though I learned some things which is good. But I also know there are some things that I'm not crazy about. Even though I knew after I had started that things were not going as I'd hoped I decided to stick with it. I find that even if I am frustrated during the course of doing a painting, if I stick with it to completion I'm better off, because often even if I'm overall dissatisfied with the painting, good things do happen. It can be a bit of a roller-coaster ride emotionally. So I try to commit to finishing a painting almost always, no matter what.

I do think that 20" x 24" though is too big a painting for me to tackle at this stage. It really taxes your concentration and the buildup of frustration can be tough to ride through. Especially if you only have a few hours a night to paint.