Monday, December 1, 2008

Mixed Results

Queen Ann with Blue, 6x6, Oil on Gessobord, 2008

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the challenge of working from some nice photos that I had taken of wild flowers on the side of our road.

And because I know you are all just waiting on the edge of your seat to find out what happened with them, today I will put you out of your misery.

I had mixed results. The one above was probably the best one of the three that I started. It also took the longest, was wiped down the most (8 times and I know because I counted) and is responsible for a bruise on my right foot where the corner jabbed me like a dagger after oops, the stupid thing slipped out of my hands while I wiping the 7th color try off. I was tempted to fling it across the room after all that happened but that always causes more problems and so I decided to give the stupid painting one more shot.

Needless to say after all that drama I wasn't too keen on doing the next one, but I tried anyway and it simply turned out ok. The third one? I didn't even bother with it. Sometimes it is just really good to move on. I had a whole batch of other flowers that were working better and so I focused on them which made me feel better (they can be seen here).

Not sure if I will do more flowers for now. They can be fun, yet they can also drive me crazy and that is totally the last thing I need right now. heh.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This one has a nice delicate glow. I'm glad you didn't fling it across the room!

http://www.onpainting.wordpress.com said...

I was waiting on the edge of my seat and fell off. Still, it was worth it for this piece.

ALAIN BERTIN said...

Hey, I like it. Beautiful and inspiring.

Anonymous said...

Queen Anne's Lace! My favorite flower! It looks like it's moving.

Tracy Helgeson said...

Thanks Takeyce, I am glad I didn't either, though it would have been fulfilling to just wing it:)

Thanks, On Painting, hope you were not injured:)

Alain and Shea, high compliments, thanks.

Sus, we are flooded with Queen Anne's Lace mid summer. I love them too, and am glad this one has some movement (although it could just be out of focus:)).

Anonymous said...

Love the atmospheric quality of your paintings. This one is charming--you will probably like it when you see it again in a couple weeks. Happens to me all the time, which is why painting takes so long!

Tracy Helgeson said...

Thanks Deborah, I actually do like it a little better now that I did after I painted it. It's growing on me I guess:) I think it's just quite a bit different than how I wanted it to look and that bugged me at first. I need to be more flexible.