Saturday, October 4, 2008

Two Unsuccessful Paintings - Now What?

Well, I'm not pleased with either of these little ones (both 1/8 sheet Arches 140# coldpress). Both are overworked, plus I made a big mistake on the alpaca by drawing him first in a Sketch-n-Wash pencil in a dark value (this pencil blends and bleeds when you wet it so it made a nice mess when I put the wet pigment on). Yuck!



Maybe I'll go back in with some pen and ink and work a bit on both of them so I like them better. Right now they both look fuzzy and unfinished - hmmm...how can you have a painting that is both overworked and unfinished?
They all can't be winners!


4 comments:

Watercolors by Susan Roper said...

I have only used the Sketch and Wash pencils VERY LIGHTLY for the painting drawings, no shading or anything like that and it always has disappeared for me when I put on the paint....sometimes when I didn't want it to! This little guy is cute, no matter if he is a bit muddy. Nice cast shadow, too.

Nava said...

Can't help thinking that if you added some ink lines to the house sketch it will improve it significantly.

Joan Sandford-Cook said...

Really enjoyed browsing through your posts this morning. Love the datura - particularly the slanting strips of light in the leaves. First time I saw these magnificent large trumpets growing was in the botanical gardens in the Canary Islands when I went on a painting holiday (workshop) with my college tutor years ago. Seeing your work brought back fond memories. I too like sketch and wash pencils but usually bleed them out for a tonal piece of work with no colour.

RH Carpenter said...

Thanks, Susan, Nava and Joan! Ladies, I really misused the Sketch n Wash - it's made to use the way you all use it, not as heavy handed as I did. Guess it was one of those "you shouldn't be painting but you are so really mess it up good!" days :)
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Joan, those flowers are so huge, it's intimidating when you walk under them!