The Great Discard Pile in the Sky

It was a toss up! Have you ever been there? Hours into a painting something is off. This was my most recent craziness of when is enough enough! I was trying out my palette knives and pushing my limits (and my ego) just a little. I bravely posted the ugly initial phase where I was still thinking that the beautiful would emerge. I placed it on my pondering wall and gazed at it. I adjusted colours (a LOT) and re-painted the sky twice - yes, after the foreground was in! Ugh!

Then, late one night, I grabbed a liner brush and pulled out my black paint and started outlining in one last attempt to make this work. I outlined the leaves and flowers of the balsam root in the front mid-ground. That seemed to help....so, I kept going and outlined the various planes in the landscape. I kept going and outlined features in the foreground. The painting popped. I added my signature (after all, I had black paint on a script type brush!) and said DONE!

Just need to finish edges and varnish and add wire to back. The sludge tasks of an artist.

It was an exercise that punctuated a conversation I had with one of my granddaughters last week. I had boldly shared that I had had many ugly stages of paintings over the years...paintings I resurrected and eventually sold. I was trying to encourage her to keep going with hers....SLAM! Good thing I can still take my own advice eventually.

Never let that ego get you into a corner. Push, ponder, park - and maybe toss - or maybe not. Either way, trust your own eye, your own heart and if you like it chances are there is at least one other person out there that will like it too!

PS

My initial, very early, just laying it out ugly phase when I was still hopeful...!!!!!!!!