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Friday, January 8, 2010

Still Learning as I Go

My second painting is done, framed, and shipped to my sister-in-law for a Christmas gift. (In my family, we draw names and give a gift that we have to make to the family member whose name we get. My sister-in-law likes lighthouses, so the picture seemed appropriate.) I really meant to continue the Learning as I Go series of posts while I painted it. But given how little time I've spent on the blog over the last month or so, that proved hard to do.

That doesn't mean I didn't continue to learn. For one thing I learned how hard it is to paint daylight. The sky went through multiple paintings and over paintings.


I knew this first one wasn't right, but wasn't sure why. So I tried again.



I liked the water here, but the sky was just getting darker. After a couple of more attempts, I came up with this.

At first I was impressed with the clouds. But after a couple of days looking at it from my desk, they struck me as being unnaturally white, and the sky still wasn't any lighter. So I went back to the book I'd been reading and read again about glazing and also about working orange and yellow into the clouds to give the impression of daylight. So I painted this.



At this point, I was glad I had a career working with words and so decided not to quit my day job. But I took one more stab at it.



I really messed up the water, but, hey, the sky had light. I don't think the author of Genesis had any idea just how hard it is to let there be light. I know I didn't do it in a day.

Next, after working for several days to restore the water, came the rocks and then the light house.

The signature.



And finally the frame.


So what have I learned? I learned I really like doing this. And I think I learned something about painting daylight, which is what I had set out to do when I chose the lighthouse as my subject.
I've started a third picture. Now I'm learning how to paint foliage and grasses. If you don't mind I'll share some of that that experience with you too.
Happy New Year, everyone.

8 comments:

  1. I love it. I hope your sister-in-law does too. Lucky lady for sure.

    Have a terrific day. :)

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  2. I laughed at the caption of you being glad you had a day job writing :))) Well done Grandpa...well done....

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  3. Well done. Practice leads to expertise - what works and what doesn't. Most people give up without ever learning.

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  4. I love your persistence. And the progression is really amazing. Very cool to see. And a beautiful final product!

    I have a painting of a small boat tied up at the shore of a lake that a friend painted for me nearly 30 years ago when she was attending the Alabama School of Fine Arts (rather than a "traditional" high school). It's not professional quality, but it is actually quite good - the water and sky look real. I know it took her many weeks to accomplish, and it is beautiful. I am sure your sister-in-law will treasure her painting, too. :)

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  5. As always, you show us the importance of good editing, Grandpa.

    I can't wait to see your next effort. Happy 2010!

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  6. Very nice! My mom used to paint. I need to get her interested in that again. Thanks for the comment on my blog. You had disappeared off my Bloglines. I've added you again and I'll start catching up.

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  7. Beautiful! Please share more and more and more. Will we get to see it in person when we're there?

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  8. You actually did an amazingly good job of this. I'm impressed. I think your sister-in-law will love it.

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