STOP THE VOICES!

I admit, I've been slacking over the last couple of days. I've been cooking (which I often do when I hit a wall with painting).

So today I forced myself to paint and it did not turn out well. (see painting on left) The green part was so bad I cut it off.  I have no clear focal point. While I liked the tangle of leaves, (part I cut off) I don't know how to capture that properly in watercolor. The whole thing turned to mud.

Trying to find a way forward, I pick up one or two of my many instructional books. Each artist, in their own kind words, give advice– What colors to use; how to pay attention to value range; how to create a center of interest; etc, etc. So many artist's voices are going through my head right now I hardly know which way to go, let alone who I am. It's so hard to figure out when you are still learning your craft. That's why I decided to focus on watercolor for one solid year.

All my life I have been making art. I've done oil painting, acrylic and watercolor. I took printmaking classes, portrait painting, encaustic and pottery, (to name a few). I like everything.

Recently I got laid off from my 9-5 and this is giving me an opportunity to focus on art. I decided I want to take it to the next level and everything I've read says you need to FOCUS and WORK at art to get good/better.

I choose watercolor. It's challenging. Besides value range, color harmony focal point, etc, common to all painting, water colors have unique properties that take time to master and even then they can get out of control.

In fact that's the appeal for me. I'm such a control freak. I can get too tight and detail focused quite easily. I like a certain amount of "detail" but I also like loose and free. I'm somewhere in-between. I just haven't found myself yet, and all those artist voices can add to the confusion.

But I'm not giving up. Tomorrow I plan to paint again. In the meantime I think I need to read The View from the Studio Door again, then back to the voices.