Rescuing a Painting

"Pangaea" 14 x 18 in.
Acrylic and oil pastel on flat canvas
Click here to purchase (or see large)
Some months back, I began a painting with acrylic (using a palette knife) on some flat canvas.  I blocked in the large forms and basic lights and darks with the knife, and liked the simplicity of the first stage.

I tried some chalk pastel over the acrylic, to highlight the thick textures and brighten the piece.  I had put a great deal of yellow chalk over the paint, liking the brightness but unsure that it felt right.

Then I got sick.  Brutally, miserably sick with nausea for a couple of months.  Every time I looked at the painting, I didn't like the color choices I had made (all that yellow began to take on a sickly feel with the green and purple).  Finally, I put it away, because looking at it reminded me of how sick I had gotten when I was in the middle of working on it.

I didn't forget about it though.  I knew it had started off strong, and that it just needed a fresh take and a different direction.  So, this week I removed all of the chalk from the piece and started over with the acrylic base.  I opted for oil pastel this time, and what a difference!  I also decided to get rid of most of the yellow, and go for more harmonious greens and blues.  A touch of some hot red-orange gave a little contrast, and the piece was quickly finished.

Now, I'm happy to look at it.  It reminds me that although I've had a lot of setbacks in painting these last months, I can still go back to a piece and give it the treatment it deserves.  The inspiration to paint is what starts the process, but it's ultimately the willingness to dig in your heels and bring a piece to the desired result that makes an artist successful.

Thanks to two weeks of high humidity and temperatures and a kid with the flu (not to mention being barely able to waddle around as I hit the third trimester of pregnancy), I'm still in baby-step mode when it comes to getting any painting done.  Hopefully the worst of summer is over and fall will soon be on its way.

If you like this painting, check out my land and seascapes gallery on my website!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Painting Cats

Image
"The Bookeeper" Click here to view auction After many years of painting cats, I've learned a few things.  Every time I start a new cat painting, it follows its own unique path, bringing challenges that I don't seem to face when I paint my more traditional material (landscapes, birds, floral and botanical pieces, etc.) For example, cats don't stay put for too long (unless they're asleep, and even then they'll often stretch and change positions when you're least expecting it).  To combat this challenge, I end up working mostly from photographs.  That means adjusting the proportions, since the camera angle causes some distortion depending on the position and location of the cat. "Eye Contact" Oil Pastel Not for Sale "Side Glance" Oil Pastel Available on Etsy  One of the reasons cats are enjoyable to paint is that they have strong facial expressions.  When I'm painting a cat, I get so focused on rendering the cat
Read more

Inspired by Light (Pastels on Canvas)

Image
"Morning Glow" 12 x 16 Chalk Pastel on Flat Canvas Email nicolehilsabeck@yahoo.com if interested in purchasing Been trying to get back into the daily painting routine, which for me either means a small painting a day, or a larger painting spread over two days.  It's a bit of a challenge with the growing belly and a very inquisitive firstborn, but I was lucky enough to get a little extra inspiration from an odd source: Sunday's eclipse. We have beautiful views of the canyon and hills behind us, and I watched the light change on this hill as the sunlight waned throughout the course of the eclipse.  I noted how the normally stunning lights and shadows on this hill were blunted by the general darkening (as opposed to the usual sunrise or sunset glow).  I thought I would be a little more appreciative of those lights and darks and try a painting of the trees and hills the next morning. I completed this painting in several steps, having struggled a little recentl
Read more

A Hot Mess of Water Lilies!

Image
"Balboa Water Lilies" 9 x 12 Chalk Pastel on Paper Click here to view large or purchase So, every time I take great photos to paint later it turns into a learning experience for me. We took a little day trip in September down to Balboa Park in San Diego, California.  There wasn't much left of the water lilies after some recent vandalism (a bunch of geniuses decided to have a water gun fight and ended up destroying the lilypond).  It was a strangely hot day for downtown San Diego-- part of a series of heat waves that dogged me throughout the last months of my pregnancy.  I was thrilled to get some pretty photos while down there, particularly of the lilypads and turtles. I love to paint water, but I forget how time consuming it can be.  There are lots of layers involved, and I ended up using fixative as I layered in the lights and darks in this piece.  I also didn't anticipate how difficult it is to depict those peaceful, floating lilypads.  After a couple of
Read more