Michaels Demo Attempt

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Comment by Linda L. Kano on July 6, 2014 at 8:38

Oregon, A stream along hwy 58. I believe I still have the photo on my site. Yes, self criticism can be good as long as we also see what is right about our paintings too! Keep up the good work!

Comment by Betsy Jenkins on July 6, 2014 at 6:11

Thanks, Linda. I never did see the photo of this place. Where is it?

As for my self criticism, I view it like this: I never want to get complacent! I always want more knowledge, information, and understanding. Don't get me wrong. I do like things in this painting. I like the sky, mountains and stream. I learned alot. But I will never get better unless I figure out what I don't like and figure out how to do it better. There is alot of cerebral activity when painting! I get mentally fatigued by days end. Accolades are great. They make you feel good and are often necessary to fuel your efforts. But several experienced artists have stated that the people who progress the fastest in art are the ones who have a healthy dissatisfaction with everything they have painted to date and a burning desire to do better the next time. They also aren't afraid to take risks on the canvas (not there, yet! )

Anyway, sometimes I put my dissatisfaction down in hopes that someone might read it and ask the same questions of themselves. Also, somebody might have an idea that can help me and others. That's the great thing about this board: We are all striving to achieve the same goals-excellence in art! As such, we are all likely to enjoy conversations that ponder the same questions.

Thanks for the boost. I just saw your painting and I love the looseness . I like your rocks, too! Good job!

Comment by Linda L. Kano on July 6, 2014 at 3:48

Betsy, I think you did a good job...in spite of the things you thought you did wrong! We are our own worst critic!

Comment by Betsy Jenkins on July 5, 2014 at 23:35

Thanks, Jessica. You are very kind.
I have been looking (staring) at it and thinking about redoing the entire lower left hand corner. I don't like my cloned rocks that don't have enough contrast for a purportedly sunny day. And I don't like that stupid bush. I am also wondering if I should have varied my brushwork in the trees. The brush work seems a little monotonous, but I am not sure how I would have rendered the brush work differently (don't know how! ). And I got confused about the rendering of the lit areas; when are they a reflection of the sky (blue ) and when are they the color of sunlight (Yellow )? Finally, I am not sure that I mixed the colors on the distant trees correctly. They don't seem to have enough light and look chalky gray. But I didn't want to put much yellow in them, because they are in the distance and yellow is the FIRST color to drop out as you move farther away from the viewer. (Red drops out next, which is why distant mountains look blue, the remaining color).

But "Monday morning quarterbacking" is how I learn. My husband says I am addicted to art, because that's all I think and talk about! He just rolls his eyes and says "Aye yi yi, woman! Here we go again! "when he says he likes a painting, and I immediately start deconstructing it... ;-)

Anyway, I'm not crazy about this painting, but it was a great exercise in mixing colors from a limited pallet, and taught me that I need to spend a lot more time doing just that. I strongly recommend it, and I am grateful to Michael for taking the time to create and post the demo.

Comment by Jessica Futerman on July 5, 2014 at 22:42

Very beautiful, Betsy.