Friday, December 30, 2011

YES OR NO



I debated on whether to share this one - another exercise/lesson from the Ewa Karpinska book.  This one, however, did not go well.  I find I can do large shapes in wet-in-wet but when it comes to smaller bits, I overwork and can't stop fiddling until it's dead.  That's what happened with the bowl here.  I didn't get the shape right and then obsessed about the shape - when I should have just let it be a little wonky shape (it is, after all, just a study!!).  So the bowl shape was wrong and the shadow shape was wrong and I finally went in with watercolor pencils to try to fix them.  Didn't work.  I could have grounded the cherries out of the bowl but I kind of like how the bowl is tipped and the cherries look like they are either falling or jumping out of the bowl in mid-flight!

I hope this wet-in-wet practice and study helps me loosen up.  But my personality so often causes me to ruin something because it says, Do it right! Yep, I ruin a lot of things because of that...my personality, I mean.  Perhaps in 2012 I will change my personality.  Can that be done, this late in the game?

So a bad painting to end the year?!?  No, I can't do that! 

So here's another I've begun (still working from the Ewa Karpinska book Wet-on-Wet Watercolour Techniques) and it's looking like more of a success at this stage but more to come...she begins with just the mail vase drawn out and then painted and then the wooden box on the right and the vase on the left and much more to come being painted in without drawing - scary!!





7 comments:

Jane said...

I often do the same as you , overwork trying desperately to get the shapes right when they should just be left the way they came out. But I actually like it , I think the bowl with the berries is really good , and the colors are great. Maybe the shadow is just a bit overworked, but I confess I didn't notice until you mentioned it :-)
The second one is looking really great!!

Cathy Gatland said...

I enjoy the quirkiness and vitality of the cherry painting Rhonda, you should definitely let the bowl be wonky!

Anonymous said...

Rhonda, your paintings always have so much personality, so much interest that I'd classify them all as a success. I seem to miss that mark. You go, Rhonda! You are doing awesome with that book!

RH Carpenter said...

Thanks so much, Jane, Cathy and Sherry, for your comments on this one. I hope I can do the vase justice but it looks a bit hard to decipher even in the pages in the book, adding stuff after the fact - we'll see what happens.

Cathy, I love the work wonky - I think I am wonky! ha ha

Thanks, Sherry, that is so nice for you to say!!

Here's to the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012!!

scruffyduffy said...

Well maybe life is just a bowl of "wonky cherries" !!!
Personally I love your little painting.. my eyes are drawn to the cherries and totally ignore the "wonkiness" and the shadow. I want to catch some of them to eat.
I am in a slump watercolor-wise right now and am trying to set some goals for 2012. So thank you for the inspiration. I love the idea of painting without "drawing everything in". I too want everything to be correct and have much more fun when I let go and loosen up! So here's to a loose and wonderful year. Joan

RH Carpenter said...

Thanks so much, Joan, for stopping by and especially for taking the time to make such nice comments! I hope 2012 finds you out of your slump and more creative :)

Randall David Tipton said...

Rhonda, I completely disagree with you. The awkwardness you see as a failing, gives the painting life. I was drawn to it immediately, then I read of your disappointment. You`re the boss, but I love it.