Wednesday 4 September 2013

Day 4 - Not a Success

You know how some reality TV shows are so bad, they're good? Well it's not the case with this painting. You would be forgiven for wondering why I was trying to paint dust bunnies, but the truth is that I was trying to paint clouds. I wouldn't have posted this under normal circumstances, but because it is a 30 day challenge, I wanted to prove that I did actually do a painting today.


I had taken some progress shots and this was the best it looked before I lost the plot and overworked it.
 I tried desperately to resuscitate it, but to no avail, in fact I just sent it to God all the sooner.
This is what it looks like now, just a carcass.


I felt very demoralised after I wiped the painting off in the hope of salvaging the board. Even that didn't go very well, it now has tufts of paper towel stuck to it. I had felt mentally scattered and a bit flat before embarking on my painting - now I felt mentally hung, drawn and quartered! What I did gain out of the exercise though, was a realisation that while I love painting clouds, it's only when they are in the distance. It seems I don't have a clue how to go about doing them close up. Although, now that I look at the photo again, I wonder if would be worth having another crack at it sometime.

Anyhoo, I got on with some other things and at around 3pm I had a little window of time to try doing another painting. Earlier in the day I 'd taken some photos of pansies flowering in my garden and decided to work from them. Now I'm thinking I might keep them up my sleeve and use to post for tomorrow's painting - which is within the rules! I was going to post them tonight but by the time I'd finished, the light was too poor for a good photograph.

14 comments:

  1. I think you are knocking yourself down way too much Wendy.It was a beautiful cloud painting and I did realize they were clouds( not dust bunnies LOL).
    By the way, have you ever watchd " Jersey Shore"?Now that's a show that should be wiped out!

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    1. Hi Celia, maybe it was just the mood I was in this morning - I didn't think it looked quite so bad this evening but I had ruined it after that photo was taken by overworking it.
      I have only seen snippets of that show but that was too much.
      Some shows go even beyond being so-bad-they're-good to simply being unwatchable.

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  2. Well after looking at your previous work, I think it is fair to say, you are allowed a few bad painting days. I love the cranky cat! And the chrysanthemum. And I think these clouds are.. were pretty darn good. Clouds are hard. I have not tried them for a while, for the very same reason. Better luck tomorrow!

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  3. How very kind of you to say such nice things Sheila. Thanks for visiting my blog. Do you have a blog I can visit?

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  4. Ah, but it was a very successful exercise, because you experimented and explored and now you know a lot more about clouds and about your medium. And you spent the day painting! What could be more successful than that! :)

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    1. You are quite right Katherine, I do feel it was a success in the ways you mentioned. And it was great to spend so much time painting even if it was frustrating at times. Thanks for your support!

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  5. Congrats to you for your courage to post your disaster, I think it shows your integrity, Wendy. Its quite a challenge to do so many paintings in such a short time, so you're bound to have some doozies. We all have those ones that go south while working on them, i always find it such a relief when I finally get to wipe them off! I also find clouds very illusive and hard to paint well,when they are the main subject. I think its got something to do with them not having focal points, and reading as pattern more than anything. Whatever it is, they're not easy. Your pansies and your seascapes are going great!

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    1. Thanks Sally for your encouragement! Yes, no doubt there are more doozies ahead of me, so at least I have broken the barrier now and the next one will be easier to post. You are right about clouds being tricky critters, although I find painting them from a distance to be far easier and more fun. I have seen some fantastic cloud paintings today by others so it has inspired me not to give up on the close ups.

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  6. Clouds are freaking tough! I had same problem yesterday. I'm enjoying your adventures through this challenge, Wendy. Nice work!

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  7. Thanks for visiting Diane and for you encouragement. I had admired your beautiful cloudscape yesterday but at the time I hadn't realised how much you too had struggled with the subject matter (I just revisited your post).
    I will visit again to see how you're getting on.

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  8. Wendy!
    Love the cloud painting!
    I love the wiped out version too! Wiping out, scraping off, adding to, taking away, and so much more can be a huge part of the process. Even the pieces of stuck paper towel could be used as texture! Please tell me you saved the wiped out version! I agree with Katherine! You spent the day painting! That in itself is so very successful and wonderful! So, my favorite Australian Art Buddy, rock on, and art on! Keep on keeping on! Paint on and paint off! Clouds rock and this painting does too!
    Your cloud loving USA Cobber!
    Michael
    (Tomorrow I may post some of my older cloud paintings. I hope you like them! )
    (There, now I have caught up with your posts!)
    Michael

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  9. I would love to see some of your old cloud paintings Michael!
    Yes I did keep the wiped out version. I was sorry not to keep the painting in the form that I posted, but it looked far worse than that by the time I had wiped it off. It probably looks as good now as it did before I wiped it off.
    Talk soon!
    Wendy

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