Today's painting time was experimental.
Many other days have been, but today,
the sum of the efforts did not result in a cohesive whole.
And it feels good to be okay about that. Often on other painting days, the piece has taken unexpected turns, but I mostly ended up liking the finished product.
Today I played with how I loaded my brush. Wet it, then laid dots of watercolor inks on the edge of the brush. I really love the squiggle of the brush stroke and how the colors blend. The dark where I first laid down the color is my favorite--it made me gasp when I first saw it, newborn wet on the pristine page. More squiggles followed, with the colors tipped onto the brush in different orders.
I tried highlighting some of the curves with a calligraphy pen dipped in the inks, but I couldn't mirror the smooth flow of the brush.
Then I wondered what a contrasting color would look like . . . and what if I laid it down ACROSS the other pattern?
This time the two colors on the brush didn't blend very well. Maybe the brush was too wet to begin with. And the last squiggles, at right angles to the first, just didn't set right with me.
So, did I sacrifice the first part, that I really liked, when I experimented? Or was it more important to follow that "what if" and "I wonder what"?
5 comments:
Oh wow, I LOVE the first crop. And remember--if you don't like the entire end product, just cut it off! ;)
Seriously, though, in the long run I think experimentation is always worth it.
Love that shape you're achieving with your flat brush. Yummy.
I think you are doing EXACTLY what you need to be doing - experimenting and following your instincts and gut feelings. That's what creativity is all about. You're doing it and it looks wonderful.
This is beautiful. It looks like you used tissue paper!
Thanks, ladies, for the affirmations on this painting. It was another day when the results did not at all match the original intentions. But like you said, Arlene and Amanda, experimentation is vital--going beyond what is often an "ordinary" intention, and discovering, perhaps, something extra-ordinary.
Again, your encouragement means so much.
Sharon, now that you mention it, I can see a "tissue paper" effect . . .I'll have to see if I can produce that again!!
Maureen....are you going to do something with these paintings when all is said and done? I feel like you should be cropping and matting some of these....they are beautiful. :)
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