Wednesday, March 16, 2011

DON'T PAINT WHEN YOU'RE TIRED

I'm tired.  But I don't know why. 

I could blame it on Daylight Savings Time and losing that hour that you never get back.  Or maybe it's the after effects of the allergy tests Monday and the fact that I still have large raised red welts on my arms from several of those tiny injections under the skin of things I am definitely allergic to (ragweed, tree pollens like Sugar Maple and American Beech, and house dust).  Those raised red welts are hot to the touch, too, so I'm nice and warm :) 

It could be the rain and dreary cold days coming after a bright, sunny, warm day. 
Or maybe it's the incredible sadness of the earthquake and tsunami that plundered Japan; seeing those people suffering and not being sure what is true and what is not true about what they are being told about the radiation leaking added to the little bit of food they are getting, no heat or light, and little comfort of any kind.

I pushed myself to work on something today and ruined the blueberries that were looking good.  That will be a do-over.  I was trying to use watercolor pencils like in Deb Ward's demos she's been sharing, but I rushed them and didn't pay attention to shape and color.  So now I have a bunch of muddy looking blue-violet round things in a nice basket.  Not Deb's fault.  Her demo looks great.  I should know not to paint when I'm feeling tired :(

But tomorrow is another day. 

7 comments:

mimi torchia boothby watercolors said...

ah, sorry to hear that. It was a nice composition. You should try it again!
You learn from mistakes too you know.
I can't give myself permission not to paint because I'm tired or don't feel well, because before I know it, it will be my latest excuse. About a month ago, I frittered my day away, i was tired, i had chores, blabla bla. and didn't paint. didn't even START to paint. Then I took a bath, because the day was drawing to a close. Once in the tub I relaxed and it occurred to me that I really wanted to paint. Rushed out of the tub and PAINTED.. hehe this has gotten long. Anyway, ruining a painting taught you something, but do try again and i hope you feel better soon.

William Cook said...

Hi Rhonda--I am so tracking with this one. Those toxins in your system can't be helping.

All of our hearts are heavy regarding Japan. I spent the afternoon yesterday watching those remarkable videos. Whole buildings rolling away intact! Big ships looking like toys! Unbelievable!

Just in the past hour I've been hearing good news about getting power back to the cooling systems, so there is at least a little relief from that front.

Finally, tired? Did you ever fall asleep doing a precise pen and ink drawing while the pen was on the paper? I kid you not. Hold the applause, though, the resulting mess was recoverable.

I've been following Debs demo too. Bought my pencils like Maggie Latham instructed and found Deb from your site. Those grapes should be re-do-able shouldn't they? Tell me it's not a total mud pie!

B)

Christiane Kingsley said...

Rhonda,
I hope that you will feel entirely better soon. I agree that painting when we are tired is an invitation for failure...I always regret it when I paint late at night...it usually results in a disaster on my paper!

RH Carpenter said...

Mimi, I hope you put something on before you rushed out to paint :)

Bill, I would have liked to see that - but that's too tired, really, you should have been dreaming about drawing, not trying to do it (glad it could be saved). I probably could save the little painting but it might be worth trying again fresh when I'm up to it again. I'm unsure about the situation in Japan - one minute I hear something horrible and the next minute someone else says something positive (I'm hoping for the positive).

Christiane, I'll be fine - just got the tireds for some reason lately. Tomorrow is supposed to be warm and sunny - that has to give me a bit more energy :)

Carol Blackburn said...

This is where you need to get out your Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Original and dab away at those blueberries and redo them. It really works. Hope you give it a try.

Ann Buckner said...

(((((Rhonda)))))

RH Carpenter said...

Carol, it would have to be a little bitty piece of that Mr. Clean eraser - this is small = 7" x 9" painting surface so those berries are tiny! ha ha I'll just redo it larger :)

Ann, thanks for the hug :) I cheered up after watching a couple of comedy shows and found something interesting to paint (well, two things, actually!)